By Lindsey Schibelhut, Staff Reporter.
For most people, standing on the top of the world at the summit of Mount Everest is nothing more than a dream. After viewing “Everest,” directed by Baltasar Kormákur and written by William Nicholson and Simon Beaufoy, you may have a better understanding of the beauty – and deadly power – of nature.
On the morning of May 10, 1996, two expeditions – one led by Scott Fischer and one led by Rob Hall – were looking to ascend Mount Everest. Tragedy befell them when an unexpected blizzard hit. Eight of the climbers were caught out in the unrelenting climate after the turnaround time (the time allotted to safely summit and descend the mountain before dark), which ultimately led to their deaths. It was one of the worst disasters in Mount Everest history.
The film stars an ensemble cast with Jason Clarke (Rob Hall), Keira Knightley portrays Hall’s wife (Jan Arnold), Josh Brolin (Beck Weathers), Robin Wright as Weather’s wife (Peach), Jake Gyllenhaal (Scott Fischer), John Hawkes (Doug Hansen), Sam Worthington (Guy Cotter), Michael Kelly as a journalist (Jon Krakauer), Emily Watson (Helen Wilton), Martin Henderson (Andy Harris) and Naoko Mori (Yasuko Namba) among others.
The first half of the film is dedicated to establishing the members of the Adventure Consultants Everest expedition team. We are first introduced to New Zealand mountaineering guide Rob Hall. He is preparing to leave for Everest in April of 1996, bidding farewell to his wife, Jan Arnold, who is pregnant with their first child. We are then introduced to the rest of Hall’s expedition team.
Audiences are taken on a journey to see what goes into summiting the top of Everest.
The team is shown enduring the acclimation climbs to different camps along the mountainside that are necessary to get their bodies used to the thin air.
The second half of the film showcases the decisions leading up to the tragedy and their aftermath. The hardest part to watch during the movie is the telephone correspondences between Hall and his wife while he is stuck near the top of the summit knowing he will never be helped. One of Hall’s last sentiments to her is “Sleep well my sweetheart. Please don’t worry too much.”
The most exceptional parts about “Everest” are the cinematography and the music. Together, these paint both the beauty and deadliness of the mountain.
However, there were negative aspects to the movie for me. My main complaint after viewing “Everest” was the pacing of the scenes. It felt like the climbs from each camp and the eventual summit day went too quickly. This made it seem as though the teams climbed Everest in one week, versus it taking over a month. Some of the characters in “Everest” also feel underdeveloped.
For example, Scott Fischer got minimal screentime and you never feel like you got to know who he was as a person.
Ultimately, the movie seems as though it’s a Readers Digest version of events: short and down to the point. If you enjoy that sort of movie going experience then “Everest” is worth the watch.
If you are more of a detail-oriented person like I tend to be, I suggest finding one of the books written by survivors such as Jon Krakauer’s “Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster,” Beck Weathers’s “Left for Dead: My Journey Home from Everest,” or Lou Kasischke’s “After the Wind: 1996 Everest Tragedy–One Survivor’s Story.” These provide more in-depth accounts of the tragedy from the view of those who were there. Only after reading these books will watching “Everest” aid in the visualization of what occurred.