Word: harrer
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...would be, were this not the season in which the world of American entertainment became fascinated with Buddhism. Neither Seven Years nor Kundun is overtly about the faith. The first recounts the story of Pitt's character, Heinrich Harrer, a superstar mountain climber and Nazi poster boy who is humanized while tutoring the preteen Dalai Lama in Tibet in the 1940s and '50s. The second tells the remarkable tale of the Dalai Lama more or less through his own eyes, from his recognition as reincarnated Buddha of compassion at age two until his escape to India at 24. Each film...
Annaud doesn't hit you over the head with anything, but he now allows prolonged glimpses of the beautiful Tibetan landscape, and almost on a dime, Pitt is inspired to treat people with some respect. Once Harrer reaches the city of Lhasa, the screen explodes with color as the Tibetan customs, artwork and religious traditions are presented. The stimulus-starved audience gains new focus immediately on a suddenly human Harrer and his attempt to assimilate to his new surroundings...
What follows is one of the most pleasant culture clashes in recent cinema, as Harrer and his travel companion and their newfound hosts explore each other's customs. The detailed and genuinely interesting presentation of Tibetan tradition are welcomed by a now emotionally fertile Harrer and audience, as are the sometimes humorous reactions of Tibetans to western ways...
...interaction between Harrer and the Dalai Lama is quite touching, even sweet. Harrer is called on to tutor the 12-year-old religious sovereign in the ways of the west, and the child's extreme patience and innocent wisdom, coupled with an incredibly warm smile, make him very endearing...
While the audience is eating this up with a spoon, Annaud smoothly slips in political issues concerning China's occupancy of Tibet and the ongoing struggle of the Dalai Lama to maintain Tibet's traditional peaceful position. Both Harrer and we the viewers--who have been in parallel states of emotional responsiveness the whole way through--are at this point immediately receptive and sympathetic to the urgency of the Tibetan cause. In only half a movie, the audience comes to buy a complete shift in a character's personality, a familial reconciliation which was at first daunting and allegiance...