Seven Years in Tibet
Rent & Buy
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 Lhasa, Tibet, where he meets the 14-year-old Dalai Lama, whose friendship ultimately transforms his outlook on life.
What critics thought
Critics found this visually handsome adaptation of Heinrich Harrer's memoir to be a frustratingly inert experience — the kind of film that assembles all the right ingredients but never fully ignites. The central tension in reviews was whether the film's careful, respectful ethnographic approach was a virtue or the very thing strangling its dramatic potential. Audiences responded more warmly than critics.
“Seven Years in Tibet is an ambitious and beautiful movie with much to interest the patient viewer, but it makes the common mistake of many films about travelers and explorers: It is more concerned with their adventures than with what they discover.”
Roger Ebert·Chicago Sun-Times
“for a story with all the potential of a sweeping emotional drama set in great locations, too often you just long for the pic to cut loose from the ethnography and correct attitudes and go with the drama in old Hollywood style.”
Derek Elley·Variety
Genres
Adventure, Drama, History
Cast & Crew
Jean-Jacques AnnaudDirector
Brad PittHeinrich Harrer
Jamyang Jamtsho WangchukDalai Lama, 14 Years Old
David ThewlisPeter Aufschnaiter
BD WongNgawang Jigme
MakoKungo Tsarong
Lhakpa TsamchoePema Lhaki
Ingeborga DapkūnaitėIngrid Harrer
Duncan FraserBritish Officer
Danny DenzongpaRegent
Victor WongChinese 'Amban'
Jetsun PemaGreat Mother
Ama Ashe DongtseTashi
John WilliamsComposer
Heinrich HarrerWriter
Robert FraisseCinematographySeven Years in Tibet
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 Lhasa, Tibet, where he meets the 14-year-old Dalai Lama, whose friendship ultimately transforms his outlook on life.
What critics thought
Critics found this visually handsome adaptation of Heinrich Harrer's memoir to be a frustratingly inert experience — the kind of film that assembles all the right ingredients but never fully ignites. The central tension in reviews was whether the film's careful, respectful ethnographic approach was a virtue or the very thing strangling its dramatic potential. Audiences responded more warmly than critics.
“Seven Years in Tibet is an ambitious and beautiful movie with much to interest the patient viewer, but it makes the common mistake of many films about travelers and explorers: It is more concerned with their adventures than with what they discover.”
Roger Ebert·Chicago Sun-Times
“for a story with all the potential of a sweeping emotional drama set in great locations, too often you just long for the pic to cut loose from the ethnography and correct attitudes and go with the drama in old Hollywood style.”
Derek Elley·Variety
Genres
Adventure, Drama, History
Cast & Crew
Jean-Jacques AnnaudDirectorBrad PittHeinrich HarrerJamyang Jamtsho WangchukDalai Lama, 14 Years OldDavid ThewlisPeter AufschnaiterBD WongNgawang JigmeMakoKungo TsarongLhakpa TsamchoePema LhakiIngeborga DapkūnaitėIngrid HarrerDuncan FraserBritish OfficerDanny DenzongpaRegentVictor WongChinese 'Amban'Jetsun PemaGreat MotherAma Ashe DongtseTashiJohn WilliamsComposerHeinrich HarrerWriterRobert FraisseCinematographyRent & Buy