In 1938, Austrian mountaineers Heinrich Harrer (Brad Pitt) leaves behind his pregnant wife to join Peter Aufschnaiter (David Thewlis) in a team attempting to summit Nanga Parbat in British India (present-day part of Pakistan). When World War II begins in 1939, they are arrested by British Indian authorities and imprisoned in a POW camp in Dehradun in the Himalayan foothills, in the present-day Indian state of Uttarakhand. Harrer's wife, Ingrid (Ingeborga Dapkūnaitė), who has given birth to a son he has not seen, sends him divorce papers from Austria. In 1944, Harrer and Aufschnaiter escape the prison and cross into Tibet. After being initially rejected by the isolated nation, they manage to travel in disguise to the Tibetan capital city of Lhasa. There, they become the house guests of Tibetan diplomat Kungo Tsarong (Mako). The Tibetan senior official Ngawang Jigme (B. D.Wong) also extends friendship to the two foreigners with gifts of custom-made Western suits. Aufschnaiter falls in love with the tailor, Pema Lhaki (Lhakpa Tsamchoe), and marries her. In 1945, Harrer plans to return to Austria upon hearing of the war's end. However, he receives a cold letter from his son, Rolf, rejecting Harrer as his father, and this deters him from leaving Tibet. Soon afterwards, Harrer is invited to the Potala Palace and becomes the 14th Dalai Lama's (Jamyang Jamtsho Wangchuk) tutor in world geography, science, and Western culture. Meanwhile, political relations with China sour as they make plans to invade Tibet. Ngawang Jigme leads the Tibetan army at the border town of Chamdo to halt the advancing People's Liberation Army. However, Ngawang Jigme ends up surrendering and blows up the Tibetan ammunition dump after the one-sided Battle of Chamdo.... Directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud Produced by Jean-Jacques Annaud Iain Smith John H. Williams Screenplay by Becky Johnston Based on Seven Years in Tibet by Heinrich Harrer Starring Brad Pitt David Thewlis BD Wong Danny Denzongpa Mako Jamyang Jamtsho Wangchuk Lhakpa Tsamchoe Jetsun Pema Music by John Williams Cinematography Robert Fraisse Edited by Noëlle Boisson