A docudrama made human

Rating: 7/10 (13 June 2016)

The true story of a group of people who climb Mount Everest during a perfect storm is converted into a successful screenplay by writers William Nicholson and Simon Beaufoy, directed by Baltasar Kormákur. One of the reasons it works it the background information supplied before the film begins: 1953: Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay became the first climbers to summit Everest. Over the next 40 years, only top professional climbers attempted the same feat. One in four died. 1992: New Zealander Rob Hall pioneered the concept of commercial guiding on Everest for amateur climbers. Over the next four years his team, Adventure Consultants, successfully led 19 clients to summit without a single fatality. 1996: Other commercial operators follow Rob Hall's lead, including Scott Fischer's Mountain Madness. More than 20 expeditions compete to summit Everest in the same two week window.'
It is difficult to outmatch nature, and in many ways that is why this film does not completely captivate the audience: Mount Everest and the tangles of nature are clearly the star. But the story is a true one and well enacted: 'On the morning of May 10, 1996, climbers from two commercial expeditions start their final ascent toward the summit of Mount Everest, the highest point on Earth. With little warning, a violent storm strikes the mountain, engulfing the adventurers in one of the fiercest blizzards ever encountered by man. Challenged by the harshest conditions imaginable, the teams must endure blistering winds and freezing temperatures in an epic battle to survive against nearly impossible odds.'
The casting director went overboard in this film – Jason Clarke is the titular star and on screen more than the others, but the supporting cast includes Kiera Knightly, Emily Watson, Jake Gyllenhaal, Marti Henderson, John Hawkes, Sam Worthington, Josh Brolin, Robin Wright, etc – all of whom climbing the mountain look the same – covered with snow, climbing dear, goggles, oxygen tanks – so that most anyone could have been placed on this treacherous climb.
But where the film succeeds is the human element: man/woman against the elements and the mutual love and concern they share. A good nature epic if a bit relentlessly slow.