SEVEN YEARS IN TIBET |
| CREDITS: Director: Jean-Jaques Annaul Cast: Brad Pitt, David Thewlis, Lhakpa Tsamchoe
& Mako USA 1997 (PG) INTRODUCTION: World War II, "Based on a true story", emergency exits are situated at the front and rear of the auditorium. You know the drill by now so lets get on with it. SYNOPSIS: Nazi spends months climbing the Himalayas, gets caught by the British and spends years in POW camp, escapes, treks through the mountains for many more years, gains access to Tibet's holy city where he lives for even more years, finally meets the young Dalai Lama. Then the movie starts. REVIEW: The film is rich in political subtext, the climbers Nazi past, Kundun's pacifism, and the oncoming Maoist hordes, but it is all underplayed in favour of the weak character drama. It's called "Seven Years In Tibet" but at times it seems longer. 2 hours and 17 minutes is too long as the analogy between the young Kundun and the climber's son is pushed far to hard for it to hold your interest. It is worth remembering that Tibet is still occupied by the Chinese and the Dalai Lama lives in exile in India. While the rest of the world looks on, over 1 million Tibetans have been murdered, hardly a suitable backdrop to the story of a repentant Nazi. Pitt, as aforementioned repentant Nazi, manages to act his way through a seriously dodgy Austrian accent which would have felled many a less accomplished actor, and the rest of the cast, while never emerging from his awesome shadow, put in creditable performance. It's hard to imagine who this film would appeal to, ignoring the politics of the situation as it does. The film could never hope to outperform Scorsese's "Kundun" but then who'd have expected two films about the Dalai Lama to be released concurrently! The film takes itself far too seriously to be considered a classic but it keeps you interested for most of the running time. Mutt's Rating: *** |