A very enjoyable and well made film but not sure about the accent!

Rating: 8/10 (17 October 2008)

The film which starts in 1939 with an Austrian expedition to the Himalayas. Brad Pitt plays the role of a most obnoxious Heinrich Harrer, who wrote the book that the film is based on. In the film, Heinrich is on a journey of inner discovery from the obnoxious, egotistical Heinrich the celebrity to a Heinrich caring for his fellow man and a realisation of how important the wife and the then unborn son he left behind in 1939 German controlled Austria were to be to him as he went on his boys outing to the Himalayas. The filming locations included Argentina, Canada and Austria with the high mountain scenes being filmed in the Himalaya themselves. Locations, photography and acting are all of the highest quality. The soundtrack is simply fantastic with original music by the seemingly inexhaustible John Williams and other music from some of the worlds finest classical composers. Brad Pitt sounds more Dutch than Austrian to me and became slightly irritating in places but his acting cannot be faulted. It looks as though he performed a lot (if not all) of the stunt work himself. The film is long at over 2 hours but that is the nature of the beast which covers the seven year passage of self of Heinrich. There are certain historical inaccuracies which do not detract from the enjoyment of the film as the film was not made as a documentary or historical document. I don't know how this compares to the book as I have not read it. As far as film is concerned, just sit back and enjoy.