SHERPA : Monday 11th April 2016.

'SHERPA'- unlike last years 'Everest' movie starring an impressive cast of A-listers facing closing storms and tragedy on the mountain top, this documentary film tells a very different story of that same mountain and the same era i.e. our very recent past, but from the other side of the mountaineering fence. Directed by Australian Jennifer Peedom who intended to make a film in the wake of the 2013 violent confrontations that took place between Sherpa's and adventure seeking tourists - the aptly named 'Everest Brawl' that was beamed around the world's TV channels and made international headlines. Looking to follow the 2014 season from the Sherpa's perspective and how their 'employment rights' are suffering at the hands of wealthy thrill seekers, Peedom and her crew were unexpectedly confronted with tragedy when a massive avalanche at Khumbu Icefall took the lives of sixteen Sherpa's, changing the multi-million Mount Everest Climbing industry forever. Released at TIFF in September 2015, the film picked up three awards and nine other nominations, including a win for Jennifer Peedom for Best Documentary at the British Film Institute London Film Festival.

This film centres around Phurba Tashi, a Sherpa who over the last twenty years has made 21 summits of Everest - and is seeking in 2014 to make a record breaking 22nd, despite the inherent dangers associated with scaling this unpredictable mountain, and the wishes of his wife and children living in the mountain village of Khumjung. Exploring the culture and history of the mountain climbing Sherpa's together with their spiritual connection with Everest we also see archival footage of Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay to give some context of how the Sherpa's have been disadvantaged since that first ascent of the peak in 1953. As the pack horse of the mountain, all supplies upto Base Camp and Camp's 1, 2, 3 and 4 must be manually lifted and carried, and it is the Sherpa's who do this, as the government have forbidden helicopter flights to drop off supplies up the mountain. Needless to say they do this for the money and their livelihood largely depends on it, because they are strong, lithe and able to withstand the altitude. Needless to say the thrill seeking bucket list adventurers who look to climb Everest are wholly dependant on the Sherpa's, as are the expedition companies who bring those individuals to climb in ever increasing numbers and for huge sums of money.

The commercialisation of Everest is writ large here as we witness 'traffic jams' up the snowy mountain side as literally hundreds of climbers at a time wait to inch ever closer to the summit. Then there are the creature comforts of Base Camp to accommodate the tourists who may have parted company with up to US$75K for the privilege of making the ascent, and then there is a major Hollywood motion picture being filmed, and then there are guys who want to summit and jump off Everest wearing a wing suit. All of these groups and individuals have to be accommodated, and more often than not it is the Sherpa's who do the heavy lifting, fetching and carrying over dangerous terrain, putting their own lives at risk, and for very little reward or recognition in the grand scheme of things. They are in many respects taken for granted.

Working with New Zealander Russell Brice, a seasoned Everest expedition company owner since 1994, Phurba Tashi is the expedition team leader.  In 2013 things comes to  head up at Base Camp when a US tourist turns on a Sherpa and calls him something less than complimentary, at which point a brawl breaks out, and the otherwise spiritual, docile, peaceful Sherpa's turn on the tourists and tempers, fists and rocks fly.

In 2014 with the season about to start and the 'Everest Brawl' now behind them although not forgotten, tragedy strikes on the Khumbu Icefall - when a 14,000 ton slab of ice breaks off and creates an avalanche down the mountain side killing sixteen Sherpa's. Never before has a tragedy of this magnitude been seen, and whilst Brice, Tashi and his team went unscathed the loss has a significant impact on all. In the days that follow, the Sherpa's gather threatening to close down climbing for the remainder of the year out of respect for the dead and for the mountain, and for wanting better working conditions and reward for the risks they take every day during the climbing season.

Brice as the seasoned respected elder statesman of the mountain acts as middleman and lobbies the government for change trying to bring about a compromise that will get the Sherpa's to see out the season. We see the differences of opinion unfold and the varying perspectives of the mountain side stakeholders - the Sherpa's, the expedition companies, the tourists all have different motivations in the days after the tragedy, and all of which are understandable and valid. In the end the Sherpa's stand firm and the season is closed down. Tashi never makes his 22nd summit and instead retires and returns home to his family having helped pack up Base Camp. A year later in April 2015, another tragedy strikes when the Nepalese earthquake kills 7,000 and creates another avalanche on Everest killing ten more Sherpa's - that climbing season is also cancelled.

Despite this tragedy that unfolded all around them that changed the direction of the originally intended film completely, Peedom has crafted a grounded responsive unbiased documentary that has a respect for the often taken for granted Sherpa community, the beautiful yet hostile environment, and the dangers and the realities of the world highest peak all paired together with breathtaking cinematography courtesy of Renan Ozturk and Hugh Miller. Educational, poignant, breathtaking, relevant and considered - see it on the big screen.

-Stev, at Odeon Online-

EVEREST : Wednesday 23rd September 2015.

EVEREST, which I saw earlier this week is based on the real life events that unfolded on Mount Everest on May 10th 1996 as two commercial climbing expeditions reach for the summit of the highest place on Earth only to be confronted by a blizzard that came out of nowhere and engulfed the climbers in both parties with such a severe snow and ice storm rarely before seen by man. This story Directed by Icelandic Balthasar Kormakur was made for US$55M and filmed in the Italian Alps, in Iceland and in Nepal at Everest Base Camp amongst other mountainous locations. At the time of writing the film has made so far US$43M and has received generally positive reviews.

As this film opens we learn that climbing this famed mountain is no longer the domain of hardened determined adventurers who first set out to conquer its peak - Mallory in the 1920's tried three times and died 800 metres from the peak in the process, and Hillary got there with Tenzing Norgay in 1953. Since then though and in more recent decades Everest has become the domain of commercial organisations seeking to satisfy the ever increasing hunger of the mountain climbing tourist wanting to cross Everest off their bucket list. As a result a whole industry has sprung up around it, and Kathmandu has become the burgeoning epicentre for those setting out on the adventure of a lifetime.

We are quickly introduced therefore to Adventure Consultants leader Rob Hall (Jason Clarke) as he flies out to take a group of climbers to the summit - each of them having paid US$65K for the privilege. He bids farewell to his wife Jan (Keira Knightly) at the airport - heavily pregnant with their first child and off he goes. saying he'll be back in time for the birth. Arriving in Kathmandu he meets up with his clients - Beck Weathers (Josh Brolin), Doug Hansen (John Hawkes), journalist John Krakauer (Michael Kelly) and Yasuko Namba (Naoko Mori) and others.

The first night they attend a briefing with Hall and he informs them that 'Human beings are not designed to function at the cruising altitude of a 747. Your bodies will be literally dying'. He tells them that they are entering a formidable, dangerous place where conditions can change almost instantly and many others have perished before them, but, he will look after them, be their guide every step of the way, and if they do as he says they'll all return safe & sound.

The next day they ascend to Base Camp after making a beautiful trek through lower mountain forest, over sweeping ravines and fast flowing rivers, with the park of Everest looking down on them. At base camp their are welcomed to the Adventure Consultants 'Office' a large tent where they have equipment and supplies stored, their communications, maps, guides and the wherewithal to get up, and back. Helen Wilton (Emily Watson) meets & greets them all - she is the Office Manager, Administrator and all round Girl Friday and she is there with Doctor Caroline Mackenzie (Elizabeth Debicki). After settling in, more briefings follow. It is the end of March and Hall announces their plan is to 'summit' on 10th May - the forecast is good, but there will be a limited 'window' of opportunity on that day. In the meantime they will exercise and make various familiarisation treks to the other camps to get acclimatized, used to the frozen terrain, and what they will have to endure as they rise.

At Base Camp Hall catches up with 'The Mayor of Base Camp' Scott Fischer (Jake Gyllenhaal) from Mountain Madness - another similar outfit to Halls Adventure Consultants. They laugh & joke, share drinks together but they are rivals in business, and in this particular climbing season competing with a raft of other tourist climbers wanting to make the ascent at the same time. Base Camp is overrun, and so into their preparations Hall seeks to partner with Fischer to make the climb together, to look out for each other, to provide safety in numbers and to speed their climb during the limited time they have. Fischer agrees.

As the day approaches and their preparations and training is complete, they set out climbing through Camps II, III and IV. At Camp IV Hall rallies his team at about midnight, and stepping outside their tents on a beautiful clear night they gaze up at the last leg of their journey as the peak of Mount Everest stands proud in all its glory, with only a whisper of a breeze visible at the summit from where they stand. Hall gives the order that they leave in 30 minutes and that they will need to have reached the peak by no later than 2:00pm that afternoon to ensure their return to Camp IV before nightfall.

Along the way they are delayed when they discover that guide ropes have perished and need to be replaced, or have not yet been installed, and so need to be before they can proceed. Beck experiences problems with his vision, and so sits to rest and is ordered back to Camp if things don't improve within half an hour. At the Hilary Steps they encounter a bottleneck of other climbers causing further delays. Namba reaches the top with Hall, and plants her Japanese flag. Behind them Beck still sits below on The Balcony still having vision trouble, Hansen is short of breath but determined to touch the peak having tried and failed twice before and 2:00pm has now been and gone. Hansen pleads with Hall to allow him to continue and against his better judgement Hall agrees and they climb together. By now it is past 3:00pm, and the weather is closing in, snow is falling, the wind has picked up and dark menacing clouds loom ever closer.

Fischer meanwhile is still heading towards them suffering from high-altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE) - by now it is 3:45pm and blizzard conditions surround them all. What follows is ever worsening weather that engulfs the mountain and rips through Base Camp leaving a trail of death and destruction in its wake. With a lack of supplementary oxygen a number of the climbers from both expeditions perish from the harshest of conditions that disorientate them, effect their judgement, impair their vision, and hamper their descent. Rob is left on the mountain side cowering into a rock overhang seeking some shelter from the gathering storm - he falls in and out of consciousness as night falls and the blizzard takes further hold. By now Namba, Hansen, Fischer, Andy Harris (Martin Henderson) another Adventure Consultant guide and Beck have all perished. Wilton and Mackenzie meanwhile monitor the situation by satellite radio from Base Camp maintaining contact with Hall on the mountain whose health is deteriorating rapidly. Guy Cotter (Sam Worthington) is with them and tries to take a rescue party to recover Hall and the others but is beaten back by the weather and sits it out until conditions improve.

The next morning as the sun comes up and the blizzard subsides, Beck miraculously awakens from his tomb of snow & ice and is able to hobble into Camp IV where he is attended to - learning this news that he is still alive his wife Peach (Robin Wright) contacts the American Embassy in Kathmandu and orders a chopper flight to rescue him. Later we see him arrive home and we learn that severe frost bite cost him both his hands and his nose. Hall died on the mountain having said his farewell to Jan through radio and satellite phone via Base Camp.

This is a visually stunning film as you would expect given the mountain terrain that we see from the top as well as from the bottom. The characters you can relate to given that we are provided with a sufficient enough back story to understand what motivates them and what their strengths and weaknesses are, and as a result we care for them because we know this is a real story that occurred not so long ago (within the last 20 years). Then there is the harsh unforgiving environment with all its power, its energy, its beauty and its unpredictability that has cost so many climbers their lives but still keeps many coming back or wanting to cross it off their bucket list.

Certainly worth the price of a ticket and whilst I only saw this in 2D, I would think that the 3D experience will only add to the spectacle, the emotion and the power of this film.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-