The Summit – Film Review [Released 2012]
The Summit is a hybrid documentary that examines the events leading up to, and surrounding, the deadliest day in history on K2. In August 2008, the savage mountain claimed the lives of eleven people. Director and filmmaker Nick Ryan, pieces together the events by including real footage, interviews, and re-enactments, thus placing it in the category of a hybrid documentary. In doing so, Ryan was extremely effective in creating a fact based, yet thrilling, documentary. This film was different from previous mountaineering documentaries that I have watched as it seemed more like a suspense movie at times, and less like a documentary. Ryan made sure to not get carried away with the hollywood drama, and kept the re-enactments accurate, corresponding with the interviews and accounts of actual survivors and fellow climbers from that day, as well as loved ones of the lost climbers. Through these interviews and footage, as well as real photographs taken by the heroic Sherpa Pemba, Ryan tries to piece together what really happened on the deadliest day. Unlike a few of the previous books we have read and studied, Ryan omits the question that most documentaries and books try and tackle: why would anyone try and climb such a treacherous mountain? By omitting this question, Ryan avoids what could have been another cliche documentary about the motives that most people will quite simply never understand. Instead, Ryan slowly unfolds the disaster that took place, and draws the audience in piece by piece.
As much as I thoroughly enjoyed the film, and felt that Ryan did a great job at keeping it riveting and full of suspense, the use of many different “pieces” made it feel a bit jumpy. At one point, the storyline jumped sporadically back and forth from one persons account to the life of Gerard McDonnell, and back again. At times, a storyline would be interrupted, shifted towards a new topic, and then continued later on in the film. This gave it the tendency to feel unorganized. However, with this aside, the film itself provided an abundant amount of evidence by providing facts and stories from that tragic day. Before viewing this film, I was aware of the tragedy that had happened, but unaware of the amount of controversy that surrounded it. It appears that Ryan didn’t take this controversy lightly while filming The Summit, which becomes clear through his tremendous amount of research. He provides the viewers with not only the events that are of public knowledge, but also with behind-the-scenes footage and photographs which helps to fill in the missing pieces. Although the truth of what really happened will never be completely known, this film gives a better understanding of what really happened, and why.
Although portrayed through a different way, The Summit shares many similarities with previous books we have studies thus far. Like every other mountaineering film and novel, The Summit has its storyline of tragedy, heroism, and controversy. It also has its typical protagonist and antagonist. However, the difference with this film being, that the heroes and villains are left to the discretion of the viewer, as Ryan shows no favouritism or assigns blame in any way. The Summit attempts to portray the story quite accurately and without speculation or blame. In my opinion, the antagonist character was Dutch mountaineer and K2 survivor, Wilco Van Rooijen, who needs no help from Ryan in portraying himself as a selfish and outspoken climber. During an interview regarding the night a solo climber’s tent got swept out from under him, Van Rooijen himself explains that he would have chosen the summit over helping another man survive the harsh conditions. Serbian solo climber, Hoselito Bite was left with a shredded tent and no gear or supplies, after a strong wind took everything from him in the middle of the night. Only two climbers in neighbouring tents were able to help, one being Van Rooijen. After Pemba took Bite into his tent, Van Rooijen wanted nothing to do with helping the solo climber survive through the stormy night. “If he would have knocked on my tent,” Van Rooijen declares, “I would have said, listen, go down immediately, because I can’t have you in my tent now because I have to rest as I have to go to the summit”. In my opinion, this is the epitome of a selfish climber, who places the summit above everything and everyone. As with most, if not all, other mountaineering stories we have studied, it also has a protagonist, or a hero. In this case, there were two; survivor and Nepal Sherpa Pemba, and Ireland’s Gerard McDonnell, whose life was taken by the mountain. Although Ryan tries to steer clear of any bias or favouritism, at times the story of McDonnell came across as just that.
Another striking similarity to past books that we have studied, is that this tragic account also includes a heroic Sherpa that goes astonishingly unnoticed and whose contribution on the mountain was almost completely written out of the news. This tends to be a common trend within mountaineering stories, where a Sherpa risks their life to save others, while after the fact receiving little or no acknowledgement within the press. At the same time, Marco Confortola, an Italian semi-soloist, received an immense amount of publicity and praise, while it was Pemba who saved Confortola’s life. This raises the question as to why Sherpas tend to not receive the credit they deserve. Is it because they are expected to risk their lives as part of their job descriptions that they are compensated for? Others whose job descriptions do not include risking their lives for others, receive acknowledgement and heroic titles.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this documentary, as it was a nice change from previous cliche documentaries that I have viewed in the past. By incorporating real footage with accurate re-enactments, Ryan created a successful riveting and thrilling documentary.