Finally, following a lengthy stay in the wilderness, they make their way to Lhasa in Tibet.

Escape eventually ensues, but only after living the life of a prisoner of war based in India. Due to the Austrian pairs association with Nazi Germany (Harrer was a member of the party), they become captives of the British prior to the completion of their expedition. What started out as a climbing expedition turns into quite an adventure laced with political fervor. Harrer and Peter Aufschnaiter (David Thewlis) are off to tackle the renowned Nanga Parbat mountain peak. Instead of staying with his pregnant wife, he leaves the country headed for an expedition to the Himalayan Mountains while his wife is left in the care of a friend.

A gold medal in mountain climbing for your native Austria… a wife expecting your first child… What more could you want? Well, for Heinrich Harrer ( Brad Pitt), these milestones in life left him discontent. On Saturdays-the day of rest-people now played chess or halma, or occupied themselves harmlessly with word games and puzzles.The year is 1939. After mah-jongg had been stopped, it became gradually evident how everything else had been neglected during the epidemic. And they brought it off! I would never have believed it, but though everyone moaned and hankered to play again, they respected the prohibition. They forbade the game, bought up all the mah-jongg sets, and condemned secret offenders to heavy fines and hard labor. Finally the government found it too much of a good thing. The stakes were often very high and everyone played-even the servants, who sometimes contrived to lose in a few hours what they had taken years to save. People were simply fascinated by it and played it day and night, forgetting everything else-official duties, housekeeping, the family. At one time this game was a universal passion.

In Lhasa every trifling object is locked up and double-locked. But to show that she is mistress the lady of the house always carries a large bunch of keys around with her. They do not have to bother about housekeeping, which is all done by the servants. They spend hours making up their faces, restringing their pearl necklaces, choosing new material for dresses, and thinking how to outshine Mrs. Women know nothing about equal rights and are quite happy as they are. If an official has guests or any other reason for not coming, he just sends a servant to a colleague and asks him to officiate for him. They turn up at the office late in the morning and leave for their homes early in the afternoon. “Tibet has not yet been infested by the worst disease of modern life, the everlasting rush.

Heinrich seven years in tibet