Published by: World Tibet Network News Issue ID: 97/10/23

Inside 'Tibet'. Intriguing culture is film's true star

Wisconsin State Journal (10/21/97)

by Janeane Humphrey

The movie "Seven Years in Tibet" was an interesting and true story about two men who met while attempting to climb Nanga Parbat, one of the highest mountains in the Himalayas.

In the beginning of the movie, 1939, Heinrich Harrer (Brad Pitt) leaves his pregnant wife, whom he didn't seem to care for, in Germany to go climb this mountain. So, he leaves, and along with his countryman Peter Aufschnaiter (Dave Thewlis) and other climbers, they start their journey.

Soon after the climb begins, it becomes clear that Harrer is a bit of an arrogant jerk. His saving grace is that he's a proud Austrain oppsed to the communist movement.

Bad weather and avalanches cancel the climb, and the men find themselves in the midst of World War II on the trip back down. They end up in a British prisoner of war camp, where Harrer begins to want the woman and the child he abandoned. After numerous escape attempts, the prinsoners get out of camp and head into Tibet.

After two years in the wilderness, only Harrer and Aufschnaiter survive. Their rocky trip grows into true friendship as Harrer appears to discover how selfish he is. They journey into the facinating culture of Tibet and become part of a place to which few people from other cultures and races have been - the Tibetan Holy City of Lhasa and home of Tibet's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.

I thought that the movie really got interesting once they arrived in Tibet. It was very interesting to watch the culture, and how it molded a different view of life. I learned a lot about the practices of different cultures. The movie taught how the Tibetan people are peace loving and giving. The Tibetans take the two mountain climbers in and give them asylum because the men can't go home.

It was especially interesting to see what the Dalai Lama actually does and whom he leads. He was just a teen-ager when he became Tibetan leader. So when the Chinese soldiers appeared in the movie and disregarded the Tibetans' ways, it was sad and made me angry.

Although I am not a Brad Pitt fan, this movie was a good learning and entertaiment piece in one. Seeing actors I recognize from other movies, like B.D. Wong, the actor who played Martin Short's assistant in "Father of the Bride," made the movie enjoyable to watch. The scenes of Tibet are also very pretty.

Janeane Humphrey is freshman at Madison Memorial High School.