This is the real life story of Heinrich Harrer (Brad Pitt), an Austrian mountaineer who is forced to be a hero for the Nazi propaganda. He leaves Austria in 1939 to climb a mountain in the Himalayas. Through a series of circumstances (including POW camp), he and fellow climber Peter Aufschnaiter become the only two foreigners in the Tibetan Holy City of Lhasa. After meeting unforeseen obstacles, he comes into contact with the forbidden city of Lhasa