mbkramer510

There is a theory that if choosing between a book and a movie made from that book one should see the movie first because if the book is read first the movie is bound to be a letdown. While there are rare exceptions to this adage ("The Green Mile" e.g.) none is more true than "Seven Years in Tibet." Brad Pitt shows his acting chops, but the departures from the story of the book will cause hand wringing in the unsuspecting viewer.

In the actual story: (Note SPOILERS ahead): -Harrer was not married, had no child to write to, no wife to leave behind and seek a reunion with. -Harrer was not particularly arrogant a person or in conflict with his fellow mountaineers before their capture. He seemed to be apolitical despite recent revelations of Nazi membership and simply self-absorbed. Thus, he did not need the "redemption" of his personality that the movie depicts. -There was no beautiful woman competing for the affections of the two Westerners. Aufschnaiter apparently never married, or if he did, Harrer made no mention of it and told of his own lack of inclination to form relationships with women there. -There was no palace intrigue related to the Chinese invasion. -The Dalai Lama appears only peripherally until near the end of the story. Although he and Harrer clearly bonded, this bond was described at the end of the book and did not form the basis for Harrer's immersion into Tibetan culture.

One could ask what Harrer himself, in hindsight, thought of Germany's treatment of foreigners, particularly in view of the way the British treated him despite his many escape attempts ("sporting"); what he felt at the defeat of Naziism; how he might compare his feelings about Chinese aggression with his feelings about Germany's policies; what he sees of Germany's position in the post-war world, such as its democratic government and its United Nations roles in the Tibetan issues of Chinese occupation. None of this is mentioned in the book or its Epilog, though sufficient time has passed that a coda to the movie would have been possible and valuable.

The move seems to have taken the title and run with it, but the story was left behind. Nice scenery, though.

I had heard about this TV series/film, but had not seen it until my son (age 13) and I rented the video. Truly, I haven't laughed so hard in years. I remember in the '60's in college my friends and I would read selections from *Bored of the Rings* by the Harvard Lampoon guys Beard & Kenney and laughed till we couldn't breathe. But we were young and in college. When the same thing happened with this movie, it was shocking, unexpected. It was no Lawrence of Arabia, but how could I not give it a ten when it struck me as so gaspingly funny? I have a friend who didn't like it, but she said "I hate Monty Python," so there you have it. If you like irreverence, this delivers. With cliches and exaggerations abounding for everything else it sounds trite, but this movie was really, really hilarious.

In the episode which aired 10/6/2002, John Rubenstein says that Leila is interfering in "my corner of the sky." This phrase was one of the tag lines (and song titles) in the 1970's Broadway hit musical "Pippin" in which Rubenstein starred along with Ben Vereen and Betty Buckley.