Published by: World Tibet Network News Wednesday - October 8, 1997

New York Times Film Reviews

October 8, 1997

A Challenge for Brad Pitt: Trying to Make a Nazi Charming

For better and definitely for worse, the renowned explorer Heinrich Harrer is a more interesting figure than the Brad Pitt character in Jean-Jacques Annaud's picturesque new picture, "Seven Years in Tibet." The octogenarian Harrer has devoted a lifetime to exploits much more grueling than those seen in the movie, and until recently he had two secrets that were difficult as well. These were his Nazi past as a member of Hitler's elite SS and his having left his unborn son for the sake of a long Himalayan adventure.

The movie soft-pedals one of these secrets and makes sentimental hay of the other. Guess which is which. To be sure, "Seven Years in Tibet," written by Becky Johnston and taking its title from the explorer's memoir, means to read something spiritually interesting into the pain of Harrer's loss.

It begins with a display of the arrogance at the root of this man's troubles. With an accent seemingly borrowed from "Conan the Barbarian" so that jacket comes out checkit, Harrer churlishly berates his pregnant wife and then leaves Austria to head for the hills. (Even before a photograph of Harrer with Hitler recently received wide attention, it was not likely that a 1939 Austrian expedition without Nazi sponsorship would have been a possibility.)

Harrer remains supercilious after he is made a prisoner of war by British troops. But after he and his climbing partner, Peter Aufschnaiter (David Thewlis), escape, he starts to mellow. And he is ready for much-needed rebirth after he and Peter make an arduous climb to the sacred Tibetan city of Lhasa. This takes an hour to happen. The movie is scenic but so dramatically unsteady at first that it, like the mountaineers, has nowhere to go but up.

In Lhasa, which the filmmakers elaborately built in the Andes, Harrer miraculously blossoms. He charms the grannies and flirts with the pretty local seamstress as the film discovers an unexpected crop of corn in its mountain setting. Eventually the presence of this interesting stranger piques the interest of the 14-year-old Dalai Lama, whose mother summons Harrer for an audience with her revered son. (Jetsun Pema, sister of the real Dalai Lama, brings dignity and authority to this tiny role.) Just as they did in real life, the boy and the visitor become fast friends.

Beyond some genuinely charming scenes between Pitt and young Jamyang Jamtsho Wangchuk, who sweetly plays this extraordinary boy, the film has more serious business to accomplish. It must explain basic Buddhism, as when Harrar, in the midst of building the boy a little movie theater, is scolded for disturbing a worm. ("In a past life, this innocent worm could have been your mother. Please, no more hurting!") It must summarize the Chinese takeover of Tibet and add a quick mea culpa for its Zen Fascist hero. ("I shudder to recall how at one time I embraced the same beliefs, how at one time I was no different from these intolerant Chinese.") And it must find out whether Pitt's fans will indeed follow him to the ends of the earth. Beyond his struggles with an unwieldy accent and the screenplay's hokum, Pitt gives a sincere if labored performance enhanced by a sense of genuine struggle. And Thewlis makes him a fine, comradely foil. But the story's emphasis on Harrer creates a Rosencrantz and Guildenstern problem f

or "Seven Years in Tibet," since its main character is so secondary to the spiritual matters and historical upheaval at the heart of this material. Annaud's uncharacteristically creaky film stays Harrer-centric at the expense of higher wisdom.

PRODUCTION NOTES:

'SEVEN YEARS IN TIBET'

Directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud; written by Becky Johnston, based on the book by Heinrich Harrer; director of photography, Robert Fraisse; edited by Noelle Boisson; music by John Williams, with cello solos by Yo-Yo Ma; production designer, At Hoang; produced by Annaud, John H. Williams and Iain Smith; released by Tri-Star Pictures.

Cast: Brad Pitt (Heinrich Harrer), David Thewlis (Peter Aufschnaiter), B.D. Wong (Ngawang Jigme), Mako (Kungo Tsarong), Danny Denzongpa (Regent), Victor Wong (Chinese "Amban"), Ingeborga Dapkunaite (Ingrid Harrer), Jamyang Jamtsho Wangchuk (Dalai Lama at 14), Lhakpa Tsamchoe (Pema Lhaki) and Jetsun Pema (Great Mother).

Running time: 134 minutes. This film is rated PG-13. Rating: "Seven Years in Tibet" is rated PG-13 (Parents strongly cautioned). It includes mild profanity, political violence and a little mountaineering gore.