This book chronicles an extraordinary adventure in filmmaking. Jean-Jacques Annaud, the director of Quest for Fire, The Name of the Rose, The Bear,
and other acclaimed films, through his great determination has borught
to the screen one of the most remarkable memoirs ever written: Heinrich
Harrer's Seven Years in Tibet. A brash young Austrian
mountaineer, Harrer set out in 1939 to climb the Himlayan giant Nanga
Parbat in India, wound up in a British POW camp when war broke out, and
barely survived a daring escape across the Himalayas into Tibet. He
remained there until 1951, eventually becoming the first Western tutor
and friend of the young Dalai Lama—who himself fled the Chinese
occupation in 1959. Since returning to Europe, Harrer has joined the
worldwide chorus in support of Tibet's independence and the
preservation of its Buddhist culture.
Set against the sweeping backdrop of central Asia, Annaud's film
tells the story of a self-centered Western man's personal
transformation and redemption through his contact with Tibet's
spiritual tradition and his friendship with its young leader—who became
for Harrer a surrogate for his own baby son, left behind in Austria.
Brad Pitt stars as Harrer and David Thewlis as his climbing partner
Peter Aufschnaiter, joined by an international cast of Asian actors and
Tibetans-in-exile—including the Dalai Lama's younger sister, Jetsun
Pema, who contributes a Foreword to this book.
Annaud, as always, researched his story exhaustively, traveling to
Tibet and other Himalayan realms and bringing back superb still
photographs for reference. Many of these are reproduced here, along
with copious production photos from the film shoot. On locations in the
Argentine Andes and the Canadian Rockies, Annaud and his team
spectacularly re-created the holy city of Lhasa and the stormswept
Himalayas; the director describes his filmmaking philosophy and passion
for authenticity in a very personal Preface.
In addition to an essay by journalist Laurence Chollet recounting the making of Seven Years in Tibet,
a moving Afterword by Buddhist scholar Robert Thurman, and fascinating
historical photographs taken by Harrer himself on his sojourn, this
book contains the entire screenplay by Oscar®-nominee Becky Johnston.
Memorable images, a riveting story, and intimate behind-the-scenes
details make this a volume for all to treasure.
