Seven Years in Tibet

Seven Years in Tibet
-Directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud-

This motion picture is based on the true story of the most famous alpine explorer Heinrich Harrer (Brad Pitt). It is a movie about love, friendship, war, and peace. In 1939, the mentioned Austrian celebrity departed for the Himalayas, where he was captured by the British while climbing one of the world 's highest peaks. He became the prisoner of war somewhere in India, but eventually, he escaped and made his way to Tibet, where he met Dalai Lama, who was considered the Holy Lord, defender of faith, and ocean of the wisdom by the Tibetans. The young Dalai Lama befriends him. Harrer learns to appreciate the Tibetan peaceful way of life. He remained there until 1950, when he was forced to flee the country in the wake of the Chinese incursion. After long years of waiting, he finally met his son. This movie is such an interesting one since it is a combination of incredibly significant phase of life, such as friendship, love, and so on. Being a true to life story fascinates me because I am convinced that mainly of it actually happened. It was such a wonderful journey because the main character learned a lot from it, especially from the Tibetan culture. Tibetan people live an exceptionally peaceful life. Though very strict with foreigners, once Heinrich and his friend were given permission to enter the "Holy Land," Tibetan did their very best to show their hospitality. I saw how the two cultures became respectful with each other since they accepted their differences and learned from it. I remember the tailor mentioning the differences of her culture from the Austrian 's culture saying that the average Tibetans admires mind who pushes away from the dark, while people like Heinrich admires mind who abandons his ego. Heinrich even respects the Tibetan 's accepted wisdom that innocent worms could be their mother from the past life, so it is not good to harm them, but instead they need to respect them. The character of Delai Lamai (Ku-Dun) made Heinrich to reflect about his feelings and views about the people around him and also about his family. The two characters constructed an extremely close friendly relationship that was unexpected at first because in the Tibetan tradition, you cannot even touch nor look directly through the child 's eyes. The young Buddhist monk learned a lot from him about the facts outside his territory. On the other hand, Heinrich learned a lot of philosophy from the child that he can apply for his everyday living. "Enemy is our greatest teacher…if the problem can be solved, there 's no use of worrying about it…serving is my path to liberation…work hard and seek your salvation diligently (Delai).

Works Cited

Seven Years in Tibet. Dir. Jean-Jacques Annaud. Brad Pitt. Mandalay Entertainment, 1997.

Cited: Seven Years in Tibet. Dir. Jean-Jacques Annaud. Brad Pitt. Mandalay Entertainment, 1997.