SEVEN YEARS IN TIBET
Dr T. White
Director: Jean-Jacques Annaud
Screenplay: Becky Johnson (based on the book by Heinrich Harrer)
Producer: Jean-Jacques Annaud, John H. Williams and Iain Smith
Production Company: Mandalay Entertainment
Distribution Company: Sony Pictures Entertainment / TriStar Pictures
Cast: Brad Pitt, David Thewlis, B.D. Wong, and Mako
Director of Photography: Robert Fraisse
Music: John Williams (cello solos by Yo-Yo Ma)
Running Time: 139 min
Rating: ***
Official website: www.mandalay.comHollywood has discovered Tibet! Yes, Tibet is Hollywood's "Cause for the Day," and the predicament of the Dalai Lama and his people has taken the American film industry by storm. SEVEN YEARS IN TIBET, the first of a spate of movies about Tibet, is abo ut to hit Singapore; let's hope they get better, because this one is nothing to get too excited about.
Based on a true story by Heinrich Harrer, SEVEN YEARS IN TIBET stars Brad Pitt as Harrer, an arrogant Austrian mountaineer whose goal is to climb Nanga Parbat, one of the higher peaks of the Himalayas. In 1939 he sets out with fellow climber and countryman Peter Aufschnaiter (David Thewlis) to conquer the imposing peak, playing into the hands of Nazi propagandists, who convince him to plant a Nazi flag at the peak's pinnacle (more on this below...). Unfortunately (or maybe not), he never makes it.
![[ M'sieur Pitt, lookin' for a new cause
to champion in earthy skins ]](/film/images/7tibet.jpg)
All dressed up and no where to go: M'sieur Pitt in earthy skins, lookin' for a new cause to champion. Harrer, Aufschnaiter and company are, instead, captured by British soldiers stationed in India (there is a war going on, after all), and placed in a prisoner-of-war camp. The movie's British soldiers are stereotypical Hollywood movie Brits, all stiff-upper-lip, no-nonsense, and void of humor and humanity. Therefore we feel nothing but pleasure when the Austrians escape and begin their trek through the Himalayas, ending up in the "mysterious Tibetan city of Lhasa."
It is here, in the home city of the young Dalai Lama, that the obnoxious and selfish Harrer learns humility and the ability to care for others. We know what a jerk he is when he leaves his pregnant (and very pretty) wife, Ingrid (Ingeborga Dapkunaite), back in Austria with his best friend, Hans (Wolfgang Tonninger), a decision that even someone as self-centered as Harrer should have realized was a huge mistake (no one in any movie should ever leave his wife in the care of his best friend for a number of years; it is asking for a trouble). But in Tibet, Harrer discovers his kinder, gentler self, and ends up tutoring the Dalai Lama in Western ways, while the young spiritual leader teaches the Austrian the ways of peace and selflessness. Harrer spends seven years in Tibet, finally leaving when the Chinese invade and annex their much weaker, and far more peaceful, neighbour.
Now, I don't mean to sound like some bitter old fart, but this is all just a bit more humanistic than I can handle. It's not that humanism is bad, really, it's just that in this movie it's all so obvious and, well, Hollywood. Despite Pitt's Austrian accent (which sounds convincing to me, but what do I know?), we can never forget that he is an American. David Thewlis, who seems much more Austrian, is made to seem rather stuffy (not an American quality, in movies at least), and, although much better looking and more interesting than is the Hollywood star Pitt in "real life," is made to look like a twit. Almost all of the dialogue is in English; this is not surprising, but still it tends to "Americanize" a story that really has nothing to do with America.
Even more Hollywood is the way the story unfolds. Harrer, ostensibly the character who is in need of an education, is presented as superior to the Tibetans in almost every way. He is wittier, smarter, knows more, is far more sensible than these "funny Asian people," and, ultimately, is even more of a patriotic Tibetan than the native official who works his way up in the hierarchy of the monastery, only to sell out his fellow Tibetans to the Chinese. In general, the Tibetans are presented as backward and childish, their passivity being their only real positive quality. They are easily fooled and outwitted by the foreigners, who treat them with condescension and tend to regard them with amusement.
The movie also largely avoids the fact that Harrer was a Nazi himself. Granted, they didn't know this when the film was being made, but surely someone involved in researching the film should have found out; it's not as if Harrer kept his past a secret from the world. The film's publicity tries to put a positive spin on the controversy, however, by remarking that this revelation just goes to show "the extent of Harrer's transformation". Well, OK...
The movie does look very nice; Annaud's films (QUEST FOR FIRE, THE LOVER) always feature stunning cinematography. And it's kind of fun; it's a sort of "grand adventure", much like those "ripping yarns" English schoolboys are supposed to be so fond of. But I, for one, hope that the rest of the Tibetan-themed films coming our way will show some evidence that Hollywood is capable of treating such a serious subject in an equally serious manner.
The Flying Inkpot's Rating System
* Wait for the TV2 broadcast.
** A little creaky, but still better than staying at home with Gotcha!
*** Pretty good, bring a friend.
**** Amazing, potent stuff.
***** Perfection. See it twice.
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