YMMV / Seven Years in Tibet

• Adaptation Displacement: The film is a (rather loose) adaptation of Harrer's autobiographic book, that got completely eclipsed as a result - to the point that new editions are using the film's poster as a cover.
• Critical Dissonance: While the critics were less than impressed, giving lukewarm reviews, audiences were far more interested and forgiving, for the exact same reason that turned off the professional critics: it's a very easy and upfront story to watch and digest and a lot of Fanservice by Brad Pitt at the peak of his "pretty boy" phase. So while Metacritic reports mixed reviews from critics, Cinemascore ranks the film as A/A+ when it comes to audience reactions.
• Esoteric Happy Ending: Tibet is brutally subjugated by Chinese, its culture deliberately destroyed and Dalai Lama ultimately flees the country, but Harrer is back to Austria and can climb with his son, so... hurray? Can be seen as a Bittersweet Ending as, while Tibet is subjugated, the film's journey centers around Harrer becoming a better person through his contact with the Tibetan way of life. Thus, while he is shattered that Tibet has been subjugated by a hostile invader, he accepts that he can't blame himself for it, because nothing is permanent. So the best he can do now is try and mend his relationship with his ex-wife and child in Austria.
• Harsher in Hindsight: Jean-Jacques Annaud got a fifteen year ban from China for directing a movie portraying the Dalai Lama at all and presenting Chinese occupation of Tibet in bad light, while all films directed by him got black-listed by default, including Enemy at the Gates. His first film after the ban was lifted? Wolf Totem, a French-Chinese co-production which created a minor scandal for being a blatant propaganda piece for the Chinese government and white-washing of the Cultural Revolution.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: Brad Pitt's terrible attempt at a foreign accent is funny by itself, but a decade later, Inglourious Basterds used it directly for comedic purposes.
• Signature Scene: The scene of a young monk being forced to shoot his master is easily the most iconic part of the film and managed to outlive any memory of the movie. Ironically, people often mis-attribute it to Kundun.
• Sweetness Aversion: At times, the "pre-Chinese Tibet was Shamgri-La!" narrative becomes overbearing. Everything that doesn't suit a strict white-and-black division is swiftly swept under the rug, history or Harrer's own accounts be damned, leading to caricatures on both sides of the conflict.

---