“Splittists” is how Peking refers both to the Tibetan god-king, and Taiwanese President Lee Teng-hui, accusing them of agitating for independence. “The Chinese communists have repeatedly used the Dalai Lama’s visit to attack us,” President Lee said this week. “We should not be afraid of the Chinese communists’ intimidation.”
A bigger nightmare for Peking, however, may be threatened with the visit of the Dalai Lama to Los Angeles this summer. His early years are now the subject of two big-budget studio films, both scheduled for release by Christmas. On his last trip to the States stars as diverse as Harrison Ford and Shirley Maclaine queued to meet him.
A Hollywood love affair with Tibet and Tibetan Buddhism, several years in the making, promises to reach its climax in 1997 – dubbed “Year of Tibet in the Movies” by hopeful human rights campaigners.
The films – with their World War II era settings, and thematic echoes of both The Last Emperor and The English Patient – are feeding hope in the Tibetan exile community that Hollywood’s clout will help the Tibetan cause.”It will have tremendous popular impact,” predicts Tenzin Tethong, a former long-time adviser to the Dalai Lama, who was hired as a consultant on Seven Years in Tibet. The film, directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud (The Bear, The Name of the Rose, Quest for Fire), stars no less a heart-throb than Brad Pitt (Seven), playing an Austrian mountaineer who flees a British prisoner of war camp for the Tibetan court. “A lot of young people all over the world, including large numbers of Chinese, will be watching this movie for sure,” Mr Tethong says. “It will be banned in China, and what gets banned gets seen, some times more.”His work on the film included correcting speech patterns and mannerisms that were not Tibetan, and minor adjustments to a scene or two where people wore the wrong ceremonial hats. Seven Years in Tibet recently completed filming in the Andes.
The production moved to South America, it is reported, after intervention by Chinese officials persuaded the Indian government to block filming there.The film comes with the usual Hollywood mixture of high fakery and authenticity at any cost. As well as recreating throne rooms in the Dalai Lama’s 1,000- room palace, Annaud imported a herd of yaks, and some 150 Tibetan extras from India. Bolivians dressed as Tibetans were used to fill out the crowds. The cast includes British actor David Thewlis (Naked), and the Dalai Lama’s sister, Jetsun Pema, playing his mother. The film is based on the true story of Austrian Heinrich Harrer, who befriended the Dalai Lama.The Chinese Government has made no bones of its irritation. It placed the cast and crew on a black list for Tibetan visas, though Annaud is said to have secretly shot footage in the country. Last year, Disney was warned that the company’s business in China could suffer if a rival film, Kundun, directed by Martin Scorsese, went ahead.