Great cinematography, otherwise mostly disappointing

Rating: 4/10 (25 August 2013)

Maybe it's that fact that I have read the book 3 times, but having read other books and seen the corresponding films this one was particularly bad. It starts with the main character, Heinrich Harrer, played by Brad Pitt. I'd have expected much more of a world class actor. He doesn't behave like an alpinist, nor does he resemble an Austrian in general. However, in defence of Pitt, the screenplay is probably the worst bit of this film and as such probably a difficult task for any actor. When Harrer was invited to the premiere of the film, he mostly praised it, but only because he was a polite and humble man - much to the contrary what Becky Johnston (the screenplay author) made of him. She quite obviously had no idea about alpinism and didn't research Harrer's life. She doesn't even seem to have understood the book itself. The real book certainly wasn't about a lost son (Rolf) or a lost marriage, nor was it about any rivalry between alpinists (Aufschnaiter - Harrer). Harrer and Aufschnaiter survived a physically and mentally extremely exhausting escape over the Himalayas under deadly conditions with very limited gear where most of us probably would have died many times. The endurance of this incredible achievement is totally lost in the film. In Lhasa, it was mostly his awestruck confrontation with a hidden culture, which was quite contrary to the film or simply didn't get through to the audience. Anyone who has seen Werner Herzog's "Rescue Dawn", would agree that an escape story can be done much better with a much lower budget.