Meru

Meru is a packed 90 minutes. And I guess it is inspiring, in the sense that if human beings can endure this kind of risk and punishment, they could colonize Mars or breed a super-race to carry our species to the ends of the galaxy. All the familiar critical adjectives (harrowing, etc.) sound especially lame in this context. The movie is sick.

The climbing sequences, the storms, the drama of broken equipment and nearly broken men — all great stuff, made even more compelling because the film does a wonderful job of letting us get to know and like each of the three adventurers.

The sheer terror of Meru Peak, the mountain-climber’s ultimate nemesis, is confronted in a vertiginous, breath-stealing video diary. Book a back seat at the big screen, and don’t look down.

Blindingly beautiful and meticulously assembled by the award-winning editor Bob Eisenhardt, Meru easily makes you forget that what you are watching is completely bananas.

Meru the film, then, might be the anti-Everest. There are no expensive special effects, but there is a lot of authentic climbing footage.

It’s a story that speaks for itself, and so the emphasis on talking heads explaining it to us is dispiriting.

Its expositional crutch proves most inadequate when the team ascends the final pitch to the top after years of preparation in no more than a minute of screen time.

As breathtaking as the real altitude climb. Appreciate Meru, for it is rare that a documentary, or movie in general, able to bring audience in such inspiringly immersive journey. This is more than just a trip to the titular location, it's a private real life struggle of the climbers which we as viewers may not fully understand, yet it's presented with incredible honesty and amazing visual spectacle. The documentary spans across many years of the climbers' lives, including all the trials and tribulations they must endure. There's myriad of behind-the-scene video making involved as well as testimony of friends and families. Everything is done with polished approach and this honest nature welcomes audience even if they're not into mountaineering. What's great about this is how they talk about the darkest days in very professional manner. Having to describe one’s own intimate fear and life altering experience can’t be easy, however the filmmakers still present them with composure. It is rarely that they are emotional when delivering the narrative, even if it's involving a very personal subject, yet the appreciation for the extreme sport and the determination are highly riveting. It also displays the hazard strikingly well one can’t help being absorbed in their excursion. The rest of it doesn't even need words as the documentary captures beautifully taxing landscape. It offers so much clarity before and during the climb itself, from the preparation, trip in the cities before to the physically exhausting climb. There is no five minutes spent without scenery worthy of being wallpapers or posters. Meru is a visually stunning journey accompanied by brave and inspiring fellows. It is more than most movies wish they could convey.

An excellent documentary about the ascent of the Holy Grail of all mountain climbing challenges, India's Mt. Meru (a.k.a. the Shark Fin). The film chronicles the two attempts of a trio of alpinists in reaching the 21,000-foot summit, as well as their personal odysseys in taking on this challenge. Through a wealth of beautiful climbing footage and candid interviews with the mountaineers, the film takes an epic adventure and effectively brings it down to a human scale.

If it were a work of fiction or even "based on real events", I would say "no way", but it's a documentary, with collaborating evidence that it is a true depiction of events. The movie is "Meru", a namesake of a mountain in Himalayas. It's not a tall mountain, 7000 feet lower than Everest, but a central part of it, "a shark's tail" has remained unconquered, being one of the technically most difficult mountains in the world (imagine, it took 10 hours to climb 150 feet). This movie is the story of three Americans attempting to climb Meru, while filming their accent. I am not going to spoil it for you with with details and amazing twists. As one of the three guys quipped: "Bad memory is the most important trait for an alpinist”. Gorgeous scenery, of course, great cinematography.