Word: pitt
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...this point, the character of the movie changes noticeably. During one of Pitt's moments of apparent familial soul-searching, composer John Williams first unveils a full-bodied rendition of the theme he has been hinting at throughout the film. It is a brooding, melancholy, expressive and lilting string refrain, fully capable of supporting the sudden emotional charge which enters the movie...
...cliffhanger potential. There's no music to augment the tension, no exciting swooping pans--only matter-of-fact, straight-on shots of the climbers on both ends of the rope, accompanied by the sounds of scraping and strained breathing. Later, too, as the action proceeds through unavoidably beautiful terrain, Pitt and other characters are shown on uninspiring rocky stretches or in close-quartered caves, tents and villages...
...Pitt's character, both in writing and in performance, is similarly underdeveloped at first. We get the image of an inexplicably angry young man, unsatisfied with his family and domestic associations. Pitt's gruff, distracted and distant demeanor, his clipped and uncompassionate manner, is convincing he is by no means likable. In fact, as the audience does not identify or sympathize with him on his pre-Tibet misadventures, the movie's first half seems aimless, and Annaud dangerously skirts the edge of alienating the audience by depriving them of something to latch onto...
...Pitt's ice seems to melt slightly when his thoughts turn to the family he left behind, which include a divorced wife and a child he has never seen. This subject serves as a bridge to the satisfying emotional resolution in Tibet: it is while trying to establish a correspondence with his estranged son that Harrer first enters Tibet...
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...