When World War II begins in 1939, they are arrested by the British authorities for being enemy aliens.

In 1939, Austrian mountaineer Heinrich Harrer leaves behind his pregnant wife to join Peter Aufschnaiter in a team attempting to summit Nanga Parbat in British-ruled India (now part of Pakistan). Harrer and Aufschnaiter stay in the country until the Battle of Chamdo in 1950. During their time together, Heinrich becomes a close friend to the young spiritual leader. Harrer is introduced to the 14th Dalai Lama, who is still a boy, and becomes one of his tutors. There, after initially being ordered to return to India, they are welcomed at the holy city of Lhasa and become absorbed into an unfamiliar way of life.

In 1944, Harrer and Aufschnaiter escape the prison and cross the border into Tibet, traversing the treacherous high plateau. When World War II begins in 1939, their German citizenship results in their imprisonment in a prisoner-of-war camp in Dehradun in the Himalayas. In the film, Harrer (Pitt) and fellow-Austrian Peter Aufschnaiter (Thewlis) are mountaineering in 1930s British India. Seven Years in Tibet stars Brad Pitt and David Thewlis, and has music composed by John Williams with a feature performance by cellist Yo-Yo Ma. It is based on Austrian mountaineer and Schutzstaffel (SS) sergeant Heinrich Harrer's 1952 memoir Seven Years in Tibet, about his experiences in Tibet between 19. Seven Years in Tibet is a 1997 American biographical war drama film directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud.

Seven years in tibet novel