Brad Pitt’s career has been comprised mostly of dizzying heights, a level of success that has made him one of Hollywood’s hottest actors. Remarkably, his stock has not plummeted after 30 years in the sun, as the next phase of his career enters a more thoughtful and thoughtful approach.
Along with being a skilled actor who has starred in projects ranging from big-budget action movies to arthouse titles, Pitt’s personal life — and his high-profile marriage to Angelina Jolie — often has makes more headlines than his work itself. Their partnership saw them become the definitive power couple and embark on a philanthropy spree that only improved their stock even further. However, Brangelina is no more, with Pitt now focusing on acting and, more recently, transitioning into visual art.
Reflecting how famous his collection of credits remains, you only need to mention that he starred in Se7en, 12 monkeys, Inglorious Basterds, fight club, The tree of life and Babel. Elsewhere, Pitt has also moonlighted as a producer, helping bring in the likes of The dead, 12 years of slavery, Moonlight and Selma live.
Although Pitt is loved the world over, that doesn’t mean his path to success has been easy, with one of his films proving so controversial that it resulted in the actor being banned by China for almost 20 years. The film in question was the historical drama Seven years in Tibet by Jean-Jacques Annaud, in which Pitt plays alongside David Thewlis.
The film is based on the 1952 memoir of Austrian SS sergeant and mountaineer Heinrich Harrer of the same name, a story that details his experiences in the country between 1944 and 1951. The plot follows Harrer and his friend, Peter Aufschnaiter, a pair of mountaineers who are buried in India after the outbreak of World War II in 1939, focusing on their escape from prison across the mountains to neighboring Tibet. After a while, the two men are welcomed to the holy city of Lhasa and assimilate into the local way of life. This has a significant impact, with Harrer becoming one of the guardians of the 14th Dalai Lama, who is still just a child at this point. However, the dream comes to an end after China invades the country, with Harrer and Aufschnaiter having no choice but to return to Austria.
Although the film was generally well received, the Chinese government condemned it, saying their military officers were intentionally portrayed as arrogant and brutal. They also strongly criticized the positive portrayal of the Dalai Lama in the film. The government was so furious that it felt compelled to officially ban Pitt, Thewlis and Annaud from entering the country. The director was finally admitted in 2012 to chair the jury of the 15th Shanghai International Film Festival. However, Pitt had to wait a little longer.
The ban was lifted in 2016 when Pitt’s film Ally was released because a Chinese company, Huahua Media, partially funded it.
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