A young Austrian, his country's most revered athlete, climbs mountains to escape from himself. Leaving his wife, he treks to a remote kingdom to find a new truth. An ideal Aryan who befriends a boy of the yellow race, he dumps Hitler for the Dalai Lama. A man bred on competition, he becomes a missionary for peace and enlightenment. Sounds as though there's a movie in Heinrich Harrer's life.
A middle-aged Frenchman, his country's most successful director, has not made a "French" movie in 20 years. Instead, he roams the world, immersing himself in far-off cultures and eras, testing his curiosity,...