I'm not going to fight against this movie and the 14th Dalai Lama. By contrast, I love this movie and I don't hate the Lama. What I wanna say is about the details of that part in Tibettan history. For some reasons, this movie has given some wrong stuff about the historical facts. 1.In this movie, the first meeting between Dalai Lama and General Chang Jingwu happened before the Changdu Battle. It's wrong. Chinese didn't send an envoy before the war. In that time, Chang was an officer in CPC's Central Military Comitee. After Ngawang Jigme had surrendered, Mao Zedong decided to sent him to meet Dalai Lama. And in the movie, they met in Lhasa, but in the really history, the place was in somewhere called Yadong (in Chinese accent) where Dalai Lama fled to after the Changdu Battle. 2.In the movie, when Chang Jingwu met Dalai Lama for the first time in 1950, he shouted "Religion is Poison". Wrong again. The man who said this slogan in front of Dalai Lama was Mao Zedong and the year was 1954. Before 1950, there is not any Chinese in Tibet, so China was going to CONVINCE Dalai Lama to accept the occupation instead of governing an unfamilliar colony itself. They didn't want to force him to flee the country in that time although they did it nine years later. So, General Chang didn't say that terrible sentence in 1950. 3.In the movie, young Dalai Lama took the power from other old powerful tibettans before the war, was because of the appeal of Tibettan people. No. He got the power because necromancer said yes. Tibet was not a modern and democratic country. 4.In the movie, Tibettan army's defeat was because the surrender of Ngawang Jigme. It's unfair. In the Changdu Battle, Tibettan army lost about 6,000 soldiers and they had only 8,000 before the war. In Tibet, solider was a job for the people who were despised by others. So the army couldn't attract real good people to protect their motherland. And there is another important reason: before 1950, Tibet had a very long time without any war, and China had just suffered a bloody civil war so the soldiers were all veterans. Tibet couldn't fight China. Jigme had no choice. 5.In the movie, Chinese army did the massacre when they just entered Tibet. Wrong. They didn't did it until 1955 and the real climax of the massacre was from 1960 to 1972. For some reasons, Chinese army wanted to be kind in the beginning of the occupation. Some Tibettan political prisoners also said that the Chinese army did thing well in the beginning. But when Mao begun to try to be an evil in the mainland of China (in about 1957), the soldiers in Tibet was beginning to work as there leader.

Sorry for my bad English writing.

Personally, I find it hard to believe this movie is rated so lowly. It is at least a 7.5 in my books. Its far from perfect, but how many films out there actually question your beliefs and your actions and allows you to reflect on how you can live your life better? How many films make you want to know more about the film, the location, the people, the characters? Trust me, this film will make you more inquisitive and curious and probably open your eyes to the world beyond your borders.

Again, it is far from perfect, but watch it and try to see where I'm coming from. If you do not share my sentiments then, at least Brad Pitt's excellent acting and the gorgeous cinematography will keep your interest.