Beanbioca
As Good As It Gets
Hadrina
The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful
Allison Davies
The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.
Kirpianuscus
not only for the story itself. or for impressive location. but for the values who defines a meeting and a friendship. that defines this beautiful film who, in each scene, preserves the mark of its great director. Brad Pitt does a more than good job and the rhythm of story is perfect to discover a metamorphose of a man looking himself. its great virtue - realistic - touching portrait of Tibet. not a manifesto, not a pledge. but a convincing puzzle about the identity, history, believes and manner to define reality of a land and its people. story to reflect, it is a seductive trip in a mysterious region.and the dose of poetry, characteristic of the films by Annaud, represents the perfect spice for become a memorable experience.
Python Hyena
Seven Years in Tibet (1997): Dir: Jean-Jacquacs Annaud / Cast: Brad Pitt, David Thewlis, B.D. Wong, Victor Wong, Mako: It seems like it took seven years to view, or perhaps I drifted off to sleep (not difficult under the circumstances) and woke up during the following presentation of the film. Title regards seven years of a man's life and what he turned his back on. Had the director turned his back on this film then perhaps viewers would have been spared the extreme boredom. Set in 1939 Brad Pitt joins an expedition to scale Nanga Parbat. They are taken prisoner by His Majesty's Government in India where Pitt makes several escape attempts with inappropriate comic appeal. One capture takes no more than a quick stabbing then he is off and running again. When in Tibet they compete for a female tailor. Then the Dalai Lama enters the picture etc, etc. Throw in Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny and this film would be complete. Predictable and disjointed with horrible directing by Jean-Jacquacs Annaud. Pitt is miscast and Thewlis is cardboard. Together they turn in one of their worst performances and are joined by veteran actors B.D. Wong, Mako and Victor Wong who also ought to fire their agents after being part of this crap. Theme regards consequence particularly when Pitt is denounced by his son. Viewers should do the same with the film. Score: 3 / 10
Rainey Dawn
I have never read Heinrich Harrer's book so I have nothing to compare the film to and no way to know to what degree the film has been fictionalized. So I have to rate this film as "a dramatized or fictionalized biographical film".I saw this movie when it first came out in 1997. This is actually the last movie I have ever seen in a movie theater. (Yes it's been that long since I have been to the theater).This is one of those movies I liked better than I thought I would - it was better than the previews lead me to believe. I thought the movie was actually good. It was heartwarming, a bit adventurous, and quite an interesting story.My rating is based on "just a Hollywood film" and not on if it is a perfectly accurate account or true to the book.8/10
Ruediger Preiss
Maybe it's that fact that I have read the book 3 times, but having read other books and seen the corresponding films this one was particularly bad. It starts with the main character, Heinrich Harrer, played by Brad Pitt. I'd have expected much more of a world class actor. He doesn't behave like an alpinist, nor does he resemble an Austrian in general. However, in defence of Pitt, the screenplay is probably the worst bit of this film and as such probably a difficult task for any actor. When Harrer was invited to the premiere of the film, he mostly praised it, but only because he was a polite and humble man - much to the contrary what Becky Johnston (the screenplay author) made of him. She quite obviously had no idea about alpinism and didn't research Harrer's life. She doesn't even seem to have understood the book itself. The real book certainly wasn't about a lost son (Rolf) or a lost marriage, nor was it about any rivalry between alpinists (Aufschnaiter - Harrer). Harrer and Aufschnaiter survived a physically and mentally extremely exhausting escape over the Himalayas under deadly conditions with very limited gear where most of us probably would have died many times. The endurance of this incredible achievement is totally lost in the film. In Lhasa, it was mostly his awestruck confrontation with a hidden culture, which was quite contrary to the film or simply didn't get through to the audience. Anyone who has seen Werner Herzog's "Rescue Dawn", would agree that an escape story can be done much better with a much lower budget.
