Seven Years in Tibet (1997)

True story of Heinrich Harrer, an Austrian mountain climber who became friends with the Dalai Lama at the time of China's takeover of Tibet.

Director:

Jean-Jacques Annaud

Writers:

Heinrich Harrer (book), Becky Johnston (screenplay)

Stars:

Brad Pitt, David Thewlis, BD Wong

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 3 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Brad Pitt	...	Heinrich Harrer
David Thewlis	...	Peter Aufschnaiter
BD Wong	...	Ngawang Jigme
Mako	...	Kungo Tsarong
Danny Denzongpa	...	Regent
Victor Wong	...	Chinese 'Amban'
Ingeborga Dapkunaite	...	Ingrid Harrer
Jamyang Jamtsho Wangchuk	...	Dalai Lama, 14 Years Old
Lhakpa Tsamchoe	...	Pema Lhaki
Jetsun Pema	...	Great Mother
Ama Ashe Dongtse	...	Tashi
Sonam Wangchuk	...	Dalai Lama, 8 Years Old
Dorjee Tsering	...	Dalai Lama, 4 Years Old
Ric Young	...	General Chang Jing Wu
Ngawang Chojor	...	Lord Chamberlain (as Ven. Ngawang Chojor)

Storyline

After the death of 11 climbers, Austrian Heinrich Harrer (Brad Pitt) decides to add glory to his country and to the Austrian pride by climbing Nanga Parbat in British India, and leaves his expectant wife behind. An egoist and a loner, he does not get along with others on his team - but must bend to their wishes after bad weather threatens them. Then WWII breaks out, they are arrested and lodged in Dehra Dun's P.O.W. Camp. He attempts to break out several times in vain, but finally does succeed along with Peter Aufschnaiter (David Thewlis), and they end up in the holy city of Lhasa - a place banned to foreigners. They are provided food and shelter, and Peter ends up marrying a tailor, Pema Lhaki, while Heinrich befriends the Dalai Lama. They meet regularly; while he satiates the child's curiosity about the world, including Jack the Ripper and 'yellow hair'; he is exposed to the teachings of Lord Buddha, He even constructs a movie theater, while getting news of the end of the war, his ...

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Plot Keywords:

dalai lama | tibet | austria | mountain | himalaya | 

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Taglines:

At the end of the world his real journey began.

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Genres:

Adventure | Biography | Drama | History | War

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some violent sequences

Details

Official Sites:

Official Site

Country:

USA UK

Language:

English German Mandarin Tibetan Hindi

Release Date:

10 October 1997 (USA)

Also Known As:

Siete años en el Tíbet

Filming Locations:

Campbell River, British Columbia, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$70,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$10,066,508, 12 October 1997, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$37,957,682

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$131,457,682

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mandalay Entertainment,Reperage & Vanguard Films,Applecross

Technical Specs

Runtime:

136 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS (8 channels)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Jetsun Pema is the real-life sister of the The Dalai Lama. In this film she plays the mother of the The Dalai Lama and hence her own mother.

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Goofs

(at around 1h 20 mins) A scene depicts communist China stomping into the Holy Land. Unfortunately, the identification of "China" was wrong in the film. (1) The flag shown was for ROC (the short-lived Republic of China, founded by Dr. Sun Yat-sen, defeated by the communists), which was not the communist China's flag. Communist China's flag is all red with a few yellow stars. The flag shown in the movie is red-white-blue. (2) The Chinese government names, shown more than twice in the movie, said "Republic of China (4 characters)", whereas it should have been "People's Republic of China (7 characters)".

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Quotes

[first lines]
Heinrich Harrer: Why must you be this way? Why, why is there always a problem? It's a good question. Do you want to go home? Do you want to turn around?
Ingrid Harrer: Yes.
Heinrich Harrer: Would that make... It's the Himalayas! How long have I been talking about the Himalayas? How long?

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Crazy Credits

As the end credits roll, a view of the mountains of Tibet is seen.

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Connections

Referenced in Saturday Night Live: Matthew Perry/Oasis (1997)

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Soundtracks

Yamantaka
Performed by the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts (TIPA)

User Reviews

A fictionalized historical drama

Seven Years in Tibet is to the true story what the Sound of Music is to Maria Von Trapp's autobiography. Maria writes in the second volume of her autobiography that she wanted to sue the film makers, and I wonder whether Heinrich feels the same. I thought it was an excellent film that did a great job of conveying accurately what Lhasa looks like, having earlier seen a book of photographs from British expeditions around 1910. And I am glad it generated some sympathy for the plight of the Tibetans. But having since read Heinrich's autobiography, it appears that virtually every event in the movie was made up, including the business with the watch. I don't understand why, because the true story was fascinating, with lots of drama. What is wrong with the minds and egos of people in Hollywood? If they want to completely distort the original facts, don't call it non-fiction.