Brad Pitt plays Austrian mountain climber Heinrich Harrer, who abandons a pregnant wife to summit Nanga Parbat. But then World War II begins and he is held in a prisoner-of-war camp. His wife files for divorce, so he has little to return home to, but he escapes and makes it to the Tibetan capital city of Lhasa. There, he becomes tutor to (and friend of) the 14th Dalai Lama. The film details his gradual shift to a more caring, sharing kind of guy after years of living fairly selfishly.
It’s rich and colourful, but there are flaws. Pitt is oddly unconvincing. Maybe it’s his accent. Or maybe it’s his haircut. But I struggled to believe he was an Austrian climber, and struggled further to believe the spiritual development the film told us (rather than showed us) took place. Also, the “action” moves too slowly. Parts of the narrative look nice but just aren’t very interesting.
For much of the story, Heinrich is accompanied by colleague Peter Aufschnaiter – first a rival and later a friend – but that part too fails to come alive in the hands of David Thewlis, and their relationship never gains the gravitas it’s supposed to.
Given that Harrer’s actual life story seems fairly remarkable, it’s a shame that this account somehow fails to capture the essence of what makes it so notable.
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