Some
like plateaus and Hitchhiker’s Guide fans
love their fjords, but for sheer geological splendor, it is hard to beat
mountains. They certainly seem to capture the imagination, judging from the five
documentaries, three narratives, and one DVD re-release directly related to
mountaineering that have been covered here since 2009.* The words of nature
writer Robert Macfarlane, the music of the Australian Chamber Orchestra, and
the cinematography of Renan Ozturk invite us to meditate on their primordial grandeur
as well as the potentially fatal adventure they represent in Jennifer Peedom’s Mountain (trailer here), which opens this
Friday in New York.
That
is Willem Dafoe’s voice, but the words are Macfarlane’s, based on his
prize-winning non-fiction book, Mountains
of the Mind. For Macfarlane, mountains are not just a place to shoot Mountain
Dew commercials (although there is plenty mind-blowing daredevil footage in the
film). They represent the last pristine vestige of forbidding wildness on
Earth. They dwarf us as mere humans and maybe we need some dwarfing.
Mountain could also be
considered a cousin to Peedom’s Sherpa
and Jimmy Chin’s Meru. Although it is
done in passing, Peedom again critiques the exploitative treatment of Sherpa guides,
just as she did in her previous film. Mountain
and Mera also both feature Ozturk’s
remarkable cinematography and uncannily sharp-eyed viewers might even spot Chin
and Conrad Anker in this film as well (but don’t count on it).
In
some ways, Mount is like That’s Entertainment for mountaineering,
but with the docu-essay soul of a film like Fiona Tan’s Ascent, which we did not even count in the tally above. Frankly,
the narration tends a bit towards pretention (although Dafoe’s warm delivery
undeniably helps). However, the real show is the awe-inspiring footage. Ozturk
has some assistance from drones this time around, as well as a number of
archival sources, but there are still shots that are truly stunning.
Richard
Tognetti’s score is also suitably impressive, especially the themes that evoke
Tibetan chanting. He also leads the Austrian Chamber Orchestra through some
suitably elegant classical pieces, including Vivaldi’s Four Seasons and Arvo Pärt’s Für
Alina.
Maybe
Macfarlane’s words speak to you and maybe they don’t, but Peedom’s film still
looks and sounds fantastic, regardless. It is definitely worth seeing big, with
the sound turned up. Recommended for fans of nature and sporting cinema, Mountain opens this Friday (5/11) in New
York, at the Village East.
