Director: Nick Ryan.
Running Time: 95 minutes.
Synopsis: Documentary exploring the fateful 2008 expedition to K2 which claimed the lives of 11 mountaineers, told through interviews, reenactments and real archive footage from the expedition.
Telling the true story behind the deadliest day in modern mountaineering, Nick Ryan’s sublime documentary THE SUMMIT at times feels like a real-life horror film on par with various found-footage films of recent years. Tragically, though, everything portrayed here really happened. In August 2008, 22 seasoned climbers from various international expeditions reached the highest camp of K2, and prepared to trek towards the summit. Out of those 22 climbers, 11 lost their lives in the following 48 hours.
Ryan’s documentary attempts to tell the story of how this tragedy occurred in the first place, and even today some of the events from that terrible day remain a mystery. In particular, the fate of Ger McDonnell is a perplexing conundrum that still haunts his wife and family who feature throughout the film in emotional interviews that will bring tears to your eyes. Ger is clearly the hero of the piece, with the fascinating footage (both his own and the director’s) showing him as a true hero who risked and lost his life in the pursuit of saving others.
The archive footage and photos presented here create a perfect picture of just how dangerous life on K2 truly was, with the reenactment material at its best when detailing the terrifying nights that the mountaineers had to endure on the killer mountain.
If any criticism can be raised towards the film, it’s the interview with the late Walter Bonatti of the 1954 Italian expedition. Whilst interesting, it slows down the film’s central narrative to regular grinding halts, largely due to the fact that his story has little bearing on the events of 2008 besides basic background knowledge of the mountain itself. His story would be better served by a documentary all to itself when here it does nothing besides slowing the pace.
That said, THE SUMMIT is still a tense and often harrowing film that’s light on real answers but big on emotion. Unknown thoughts over what really happened on K2 may be a chilling note to go out on, but it will undoubtedly have the film stuck in your mind for a long time thereafter.
THE SUNDANCE LONDON FILM AND MUSIC FESTIVAL RUNS FROM 25-28 APRIL AT THE O2. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION AND TICKETS VISIT: http://www.sundance-london.com
