“I needed to go… the pull of Everest was stronger for me than any force on Earth.” 🏔️ I must admit I have been waiting to see this film for many years. I first encountered wonderful Australian filmmaker Jennifer Peedom as the 2015 Telluride Film Festival, where she premiered her documentary titled Sherpa. In the 11 years since then, I’ve never seen any doc or feature which properly captures Nepal, Sherpas, or the actual experience being on the mountains better than that. However, in those 11 years I have been to Nepal myself and I even met the star of Sherpa, a Nepalese climber named Phurba Tashi. Peedom has been preparing to make this her entire life. Tenzing is the definitive, exceptionally accurate, thrilling story of the first summit of Mount Everest in May 1953. The two men who reached the top were Edmund Hillary, a New Zealand member of the British expedition and one of their local Sherpa guides named Tenzing Norgay, who was working with them as a climber and not just a porter. Both of them became instantly famous worldwide, but this film is focused on Tenzing and his story. Peedom properly frames the triumph of conquering Everest by focusing on the native man who grew up in the shadow of the mountain and put in the most extraordinary effort to achieve the impossible. Luckily Tenzing is also so much more than just a mountain climbing movie.
Tenzing is directed by Peedom as her first narrative feature film after decades of directing award-winning documentaries. The screenplay is written by Luke Davies (Lion, Beautiful Boy, News of the World) based on the true story of Tenzing Norgay. Born in Tibet (though he often considered himself as being from Nepal), Tenzing grew up in the Khumbu Himalayas and lived at a Buddhist monastery. He quickly became obsessed with climbing and left to work in Darjeeling (which, during the early 1900s, was the base for climbing in the Himalayas instead of Kathmandu). After working with the Swiss as a Sherpa climber on a failed attempt at Everest in 1952, he returned to Darjeeling and convinced the British to let him join their expedition in 1953. Willem Dafoe stars as Col. John Hunt, leader of the expedition who agrees to give Tenzing equal billing as a climber on the team and not just a Sherpa. Peedom cast Tibetan actor Genden Phuntsok as Tenzing and he couldn’t be more perfect, portraying not only Tenzing’s iconic smile (this), but also his tenacity and grit and wholesomeness. He is absolutely the shining star of this movie and it only works because of him. Tom Hiddleston also co-stars as Sir Edmund Hillary, and matches Phuntsok in his authenticity and grit. They become friends on the mountain and agree to partner as a climbing duo, proving to the team that they have the skill and determination to get to the top. The rest is history. And my ohhh my is it spectacular to watch.
Tenzing is the Oppenheimer for mountain climbing, and First Man for Tenzing Norgay. It’s as brilliant and profound and unforgettable as those two movies. But with its own distinct voice & cinematic storytelling that only Peedom could pull off. She is, without a doubt, one of the most formidable mountain filmmakers in cinema history. Not only is she courageous & driven enough to go out onto these mountains, with a crew just as passionate as her, and film it all for real right there in Nepal. She is also inspired by the stories of the mountain people whose lives are not usually featured up on the big screen. Not just the Sherpas that set the ropes, carry the loads, and do most of the hard work, but also all the wives and children who always worry when their loved ones go out to work on the mountains. Her soulful connection to mountains is so deep & mesmerizing that no other filmmaker captures their elegance quite like she does. She has poured everything into making Tenzing, a story that deserves to echo through eternity – like Tenzing’s accomplishment does echoing through Nepal’s history (and human history). We are lucky as ever to get to witness such beautiful cinema. We are especially lucky that someone as careful & caring as Peedom was granted the opportunity to tell this story and pulled off the impossible in making it as magnificent as the great achievement it depicts.
While Tenzing is about what Hillary & Norgay achieved in 1953, and how incredible it was, it is also about so much more than mountain climbing. This is not only about chasing your dream, and achieving that dream, and about the extraordinary passion & hard work & determination that drives many people. It’s also about humanity itself – its flaws and failures, along with its grand accomplishments. Peedom is one of the first in cinema history to frame this story of summiting Mount Everest from the perspective of a poor, working class Asian man and not solely from the usual look at what these great European White men did. Hillary himself was even considered sort of a runt of the team because he was from New Zealand and not England. Both of them achieved this together and deserve the acclaim together. But Tenzing was the backbone of the climbing team, and pushed them onward. He instilled in them the great courage & hope necessary. This is a thread in almost all of Peedom’s films so far, and seeing her bring that through into this movie is what left me in awe. In Sherpa, she captures a major moment in Nepal history when the Sherpas band together and cancel an entire season of climbing Everest. Here she once again captures a major moment in Nepal climbing history reminding us that these Sherpas and these mountain people are directly responsible for so much of what has happened in the Himalayas. It is invigorating to see this storytelling presented so passionately in Tenzing.
Beyond the story itself, the filmmaking in this film is spectacular. There is not a moment in this that I didn’t believe that they were literally filming them climbing up the mountain in Nepal. My jaw dropped time and time again, whenever I wasn’t wiping away well-earned tears. Unlike so many other Everest films made with green screen and fake snow, this one is actually made for real on a real mountain. They shot the actors on a real mountain in New Zealand and also filmed Chomolungma herself. The cinematography from DP Stefan Duscio is magnificent, capturing both the grandeur and awe of the Himalayas, along with the intimacy and emotions of every actor involved in this. Peedom’s team goes well beyond just this one DP, with cameraman filming some of the most majestic shots of mountains you’ll ever see on screen. Separate from so many other documentaries made about climbing, the framing of each shot is distinctly perfect, in order to make the film as timeless as the story we’re watching on screen. The score by Rebekka Karijord is wonderful as well. I couldn’t be happier and more moved by how grand & unforgettable this film is. The way it comes together, cinematically, at the end is awe-inspiring and will leave everyone who watches it instilled with that sense of determination & success that got Tenzing & Hillary to top 73 years ago. One of my favorite films of the year.
Alex’s Rating: 9.5 out of 10
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