This review of “The Summit of the Gods”It was published its first time in October 22, 22 days after it premiered at the Animation is Film Festival.
Eric Herson Macarel voiced Habu, the obstinate climber, as he hangs from the side a mountain. It is easier to accept the possibility of his death than the possibility of him never climbing again. His unwavering determination leads to a logically incomprehensible, but spiritually profound conclusion. “The Summit of the Gods.”
The animated sports drama is a documentary with a solemnity similar to a documentary. “Flee,” another of this year’s mature animation standouts, or the lyrical “I Lost My Body.” Elegantly conceived, it’s an exploration of the desire to discover, see, or do something no one else has.
Patrick Imbert is a filmmaker and co-director of “The Big Bad Fox and Other Tales”The animation director for titles such as “Ernest & Celestine”And “April and the Extraordinary World,” takes on this saga — based on the manga by Jiro Taniguchi and Baku Yumemakura — often prioritizing the experiential. Although the characters are fictional, detailed information about mountaineering’s most notable figures and sought-after treks is provided as an organic crash course.
Fukamachi, Japanese magazine photographer and participant, is approached by Fukamachi, Damien Boisseau, who claims to have discovered a camera belonging George Mallory. Mallory, an actual-life mountaineer, attempted to climb Everest in 1953, but was killed. That fruitless encounter connects Fukamachi to Habu, by this point in the story’s timeline a perplexing figure whose whereabouts are unknown.
Agile in its structure, Imbert and co-writer Magali Pouzol alternate between Fukamachi’s tireless search for Habu in the 1990s and flashbacks to the latter’s youth. The dexterous climber’s extreme competitiveness, manifested as disregard for his companions, resulted in earned isolation. The already reclusive man, who had become so withdrawn after a tragedy, becomes another. His former hobby is now the main purpose of his life, even though his main rival Marc Arnaud (Marc Arnaud), has left the picture.
But the film is just as much about Fukamachi’s obsession with meeting Habu and inquiring about Mallory’s camera. Parallel adventures unfold. The montage shows them both packing one mountain gear and another photographic equipment. This suggests that they are not very different. However, there’s a lack of context on how Habu became so devoted to this activity, beyond a childhood snippet, to anchor his unreasonable escapades psychologically. His journalistic counterpart is also subject to the same vagueness regarding his intense interest.
Moody lighting in the gorgeously imposing nature panoramas — and in the backgrounds in general — accentuates the wide milieu of snow-covered slopes, starry skies, and massive rock formations. Each shot could be easily framed as a painting of a landscape that is closer to reality than anything imagined. Only once. “Summit”You can easily drift into hallucinatory territory. The character design is also minimally stylized and has a serious look that suits the tone. Its commitment towards a muted aesthetic with thematic gravitas confirms that animation can serve any genre.
Imbert makes us hyper-aware of the era through the prominently featured bygone technology and other production-design elements: Fukamachi’s Walkman, desktop computers, and VHS tapes. What’s most significant about the time period resides in the need for a photographer to document the enterprises before smartphones were around.
Scenes purely dedicated to showcasing the climbing, both in Habu’s past and in the culminating third act that unites both individuals, feature almost no dialogue or voice-over. Amin Bouhafa’s shape-shifting score traverses a melancholy melody, with staccato percussions and instrumental rock profoundly influencing our sensorial perception of these sequences.
Their awe-inspiring grandeur, even in drawn form, deliver us into the primal state of these men going against the elements for no other reason than their arrogance to defy some of the earth’s most inhospitable corners. Imbert’s work is filled with tension, the feeling of a rope breaking, and angles that are only possible in animation. Danger permeates.
Habu’s end-all pursuit hinges on the unspoken principle that satisfaction is unattainable, that the thrill of an escalating challenge is the point. When getting higher up a peak isn’t enough, then there’s the option of attempting it without oxygen, doing it at the worst possible time of the year, taking the most difficult face of the mountain, climbing alone, or in the case of the most daring among them, free soloing (without any protective measures). In their mind, increasing the risk increases the accomplishment’s value.
Though it’s certainly difficult to sympathize on a rational level — why risk dying for the chance to reach altitudes for which the human body wasn’t created — “The Summit of the Gods”This is how we can see the beauty in such acts of madness and be reminded of their transcendental meanings.
“You can’t stop people from doing what they want. Even if it’s senseless,”Fukamachi is told the story of a woman who lost her loved one in a mountaineering accident. The film is a reflection of her honesty, which can be used here as well as in other situations that are relevant to the human condition. Imbert’s first solo feature, a majestic expedition of both indomitable nature and the soul, is emotionally gratifying because it doesn’t pretend to decipher fully a person’s impetus to conquer the insurmountable for the silent glory of knowing it was accomplished.
“The Summit of the Gods”It will be available in U.S. cinemas on Nov. 24, and on Netflix on Nov. 30,