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Seven Years in Tibet

Seven Years in Tibet (1997)

October. 10,1997
|
7.1
|
PG-13
| Adventure Drama History

Austrian mountaineer, Heinrich Harrer journeys to the Himalayas without his family to head an expedition in 1939. But when World War II breaks out, the arrogant Harrer falls into Allied forces' hands as a prisoner of war. He escapes with a fellow detainee and makes his way to Llaso, Tibet, where he meets the 14-year-old Dalai Lama, whose friendship ultimately transforms his outlook on life.

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TinsHeadline
1997/10/10

Touches You

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Ceticultsot
1997/10/11

Beautiful, moving film.

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Aiden Melton
1997/10/12

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

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Kirandeep Yoder
1997/10/13

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

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sindavide
1997/10/14

the story of a nazi and a fake pacifist on CIA payroll. It's an absolutely disgusting piece of propaganda which defies any historical honesty, depicting Tibet as a kind of fairy tale place, while it was a feudal middle age country with slavery, a tribal society based on injustice, inequality, violence and subjugation. This piece of propaganda shows Tibet as not part of China, while it had been, at that time, part of China for three hundred years already. Also this infamous bunch of lies forgets to tell the reforms and the liberation that communist China brought to Tibet, where the only ones to suffere where a few privileged while the great majority of people, till then enslaved and subjugated, welcomed them more than happily. It is also peculiar the fact that lamaist Tibet and the Lamas have never had problems with Chinese sovereignty before, but only when China became communist. It doesn't matter if this thing has a good package - the package is good indeed - when the content is absolutely a rotten bunch of crap and propaganda. Another example of how Hollywood is nothing but the entertainment tool of the USA State Department.

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Filipe Neto
1997/10/15

This film follows the course of the German climber Heinrich Harrer, who travels to Tibet in order to climb a mountain. The failure of the attempt and the outbreak of World War II takes him to a prison camp (India was a British colony), from where he manages to flee to Tibet, a neutral country outside of English jurisdiction but very averse to visits from foreigners . However, he is able to enter and settle in the capital, where he meets the young Dalai Lama and helps in his education. Thus begins a great friendship between the two, portrayed in a touching way. The plot has a strong story behind it and is truly interesting, with well-developed moral and historical backgrounds, though it does not focus much on the historical facts but rather on the protagonist's personal connection with what happened there. I felt that the Chinese invasion was almost a footnote in the film, and the movie ended up losing with that absence. Brad Pitt gave life to the protagonist and, despite a reasonable performance, was not totally happy with his character. It seems that he has never really been in the shoes of the climber he plays. David Thewlis had more capacity for his character but, being a secondary character, there was little for the actor. One never comes to understand whether Harrer is a sympathizer of Nazi ideas or whether he was merely a victim of events, like so many Germans who suffered from World War II and who have never reviewed the ideas of the regime. The film explores the whole Tibetan ambiance very well, with its impressive scenery and scenery. Although the film fails to create a mountain epic with an emotive background, it is good enough to merit our attention and does a good job showing a little of what Tibet has been in the past. I'm even surprised that this film has not been nominated for a single Oscar, but maybe political reasons have silenced the Academy.

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royu2
1997/10/16

This had the foundations to be something truly special. An Austrian mountain climber leaves a dying marriage to explore the Himalayas in British India, but with the onset of World War II is forced to flea through inhospitable terrain to Tibet where he is befriended by a doomed world leader.Fantastic, how could such a unique and complex plot go wrong? Well believe me, they found a way.10 minutes into the movie and I'd already given up on the script, it was dull from the first line and barely improved after that, no point waiting for a witty or insightful remark because it isn't coming.Then there was the editing. Seemingly important scenes are over in a heartbeat while pointless scenes are dragged out. Moments that seem like big twists are immediately and coincidently reversed just 5 seconds later, it's all a bit of a mess. The film never really flows, it limps along, takes a sudden leap, then limps again.Brad Pitt isn't too bad but the supporting cast is pretty hopeless, the acting quality would barely compete with a daytime soap opera, and the elevator music soundtrack just makes thing worse.If you like a bit of culture and funky scenery then it might be worth a look, but otherwise Seven Years in Tibet will feel like seven years in solitary confinement.

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Ruediger Preiss
1997/10/17

Maybe it's that fact that I have read the book 3 times, but having read other books and seen the corresponding films this one was particularly bad. It starts with the main character, Heinrich Harrer, played by Brad Pitt. I'd have expected much more of a world class actor. He doesn't behave like an alpinist, nor does he resemble an Austrian in general. However, in defence of Pitt, the screenplay is probably the worst bit of this film and as such probably a difficult task for any actor. When Harrer was invited to the premiere of the film, he mostly praised it, but only because he was a polite and humble man - much to the contrary what Becky Johnston (the screenplay author) made of him. She quite obviously had no idea about alpinism and didn't research Harrer's life. She doesn't even seem to have understood the book itself. The real book certainly wasn't about a lost son (Rolf) or a lost marriage, nor was it about any rivalry between alpinists (Aufschnaiter - Harrer). Harrer and Aufschnaiter survived a physically and mentally extremely exhausting escape over the Himalayas under deadly conditions with very limited gear where most of us probably would have died many times. The endurance of this incredible achievement is totally lost in the film. In Lhasa, it was mostly his awestruck confrontation with a hidden culture, which was quite contrary to the film or simply didn't get through to the audience. Anyone who has seen Werner Herzog's "Rescue Dawn", would agree that an escape story can be done much better with a much lower budget.

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