Wolff rating: GOOD
Plot summary: Biography of an Austrian climber who gets trapped in India (and later Tibet) during World War II.
Biased, pithy comments: I think there's a trend of fascist chic. No one agrees with ideals, but there's some sort of bizarre fashion statement when so many movies recently facist or near-facist leads. (In the old days, we made movies where the bad guys were facists, but hey, who's counting.) In this case, Heinrich Harrer is nominally a Nazi; a member of the party, yes, an arrogant Arayan (at the beginning), sure, but certainly not fighting for the side of evil during the war. In fact, when he's not in prison he's at the Roof of the World, hiding from the war. Although Pitt isn't much to write home about (or make a vast movie around, although you couldn't make such an expensive movie without his star power), the rest of the film is really neat---with digital blends of several high places (South America, Canada, Austria) and some reconstruction from pictures, you're convinced you're seeing 1930s and 40s Tibet. The Dalai Lama is wonderfully played by Jamyang Wang Chuck, Lhakpa Tsamchoe is great as a taylor, and one of my favorites, B.D. Wong, is given a meaty role. One finds oneself drawn in by the tragic story of this quiet mountain nation getting slowly overrun by the outside world, if not by the grinding machinations of Pitt's character. So, by no means perfect (``Dances With Wolves'' or ``The English Patient'' it isn't), but certainly worth watching. Score by Williams (performed by Yo Yo Ma) is quite good. See this letterboxed.
Other Notes: The actress playing the Dalai Lama's mother is the Dalai Lama's real-life sister, Jetsum Pema.
How many times I have seen it: x1
Starring: Brad Pitt, David Thewlis, B.D. Wong, Mako, Jamyang Wang Chuck, Lhakpa Tsamchoe.
Directed by: Jean-Jacques Annaud