In 1939, Austrian born Heinrich Marrer, played by Brad Pitt, is an arrogant, confident mountain climber, who chooses to leave home and his pregnant wife for an attempt at conquering one of the toughest mountains in the Himalayas. Months later, his team calls off their climb midway because of bad weather and very dangerous conditions. One bad thing leads to another, as Germany declares war in Europe, and Heinrich finds himself as a prisoner of war in a detention camp. After many abortive attempts he finally escapes to Tibet, where his life changes as the fourteen-year-old Dalai Lama befriends him.

This movie, on a global view, exposes the cruelty and horrors of imperialism, while on a more personal view brings out the importance of the relationship between a father and a son.

From the visually impaired point of view, this movie was very tough from start to finish. I needed a running description from my sighted assistant for most of the first hour. Throughout this movie there were many adventure scenes with sound effects, but very little dialogue. For awhile I found myself totally lost, eagerly waiting for my friend's descriptions. I kept waiting for things to get better, but they didn't for a long time.

The last hour was a little better, with interesting dialogue between the young Dalai Lama and Heinrich.