In the Autumn of 1939, Heinrich Harrer (Brad Pitt) and Peter Aufschnaiter (David Thewlis) set out to climb Nanga Parbat, one of the highest peaks in the Himalayas.
The self-centred Harrer, whose sole preoccupation was the achievement of fame and glory, would experience an emotional awakening on his fantastic journey that would take him from the heights of conquest to the depths of internment in a British prisoner of war camp, then from escape and a harrowing two year trek through the Himalayas, to the mysterious Tibetan city of Lhasa.
Harrer befriends the young Dalai Lama, and tutors the religious leader in the ways of the Western world. A deep bond forms but the idyllic world is about to be shattered by a force that cannot be ignored...
