Review of Seven Years in Tibet (1997) by Aaron R — 07 Mar 2009

"Seven Years in Tibet" is an epic drama based on the memoirs of Austrian mountain climber Heinrich Harrer's adventures in Tibet. It comes with all the trappings one would expect from a film in this genre: lavish vistas, thousands of extras, a handsome, tragically flawed hero who finds redemption, and, unfortunately, a slow pace.

"Tibet" is, thankfully, not as melodramatic and sentimental as Brad Pitt's other big period piece, "Legends of the Fall", but it shares a similar tone and scope to that film. It also has a lot in common with another Tibet-centered film "Kundun", which does not even mention Harrer's role in the life of the Dali Lama.

"Tibet" doesn't quite take all the predictable turns one would expect from a Pitt film (he doesn't get the girl, for example) and, his humorous attempt at an Austrian accent aside, Pitt does a great job portraying the arrogant and later humbled Harrer.

As the film progresses, however, one can feel a preachy pro-Tibet message slip in that feels like Hollywood's latest righteous-cause-of-the-month. This, combined with an idealized portrait of Tibetan society and the movie's demonization of the Chinese, concisely slants the film in a way that makes for great drama but poor objectivity (no mention is made of the Chinese suffering at the hands of the Japanese invasion, etc.

--ironically, and perhaps for subconscious reasons, one of the most important and flawed Tibetan characters in the film is portrayed by Chinese-American actor B.D. Wong). The real story here isn't about politics or historical accuracy, however.

It's about Harrer's personal growth from a selfish celebrity to a better human being, and in that vein, the film is great. If one can get past the slow pace and the fact that the true events have been fiddled with by Hollywood, and probably Harrer himself, then one will find a great film.