Review #959: The Epic of Everest (1924)

Title: The Epic of Everest
Year: 1924
Director: J.B.L Noel
Country: UK
Language: N/A

Mount Everest is the world's tallest mountain reaching a peak of 29,000 ft above sea level. It is in the Mahalangur Range, running across the border between China and Nepal. Due to its sheer enormity in size, every year climbers attempt to reach the top of the mountain.  As a result there are over 200 corpses scattered about, some of which serve as landmarks. What kind of person would dare climb it? Well, what kind of man would dare FILM the journey (in 1924 no less)  as well?

This is the official record of Mallory and Irvine's 1924 expedition. When George Mallory and Sandy Irvine attempted to reach the summit of Everest in 1924 they came closer than any previous attempt.

Attempting to detail a mountain ascent is no easy feat even in 2016, doing it with the primitive cameras and equipment of the late silent era must have been a near impossible accomplishment. through a tremendous mixture of planning and will, endurance and scientific experimentation, they produced the footage that would become this film. Director J.B.L. Noel  was told many times that he was an absolute fool to try, but he went forward anyways. 

Bulky cameras were hauled up sheets of ice, in thinning air, used to photograph one vista after the next. It is largely a collection of long- and medium-shots of the mountain itself as the men actually hiking the difficult terrain are often seen as small black dots. Shots seem to last forever, as we observe the ant-like procession of climbers, who's progress is perfectly captured to the point of tedium. Much more editing would have been greatly appreciated, but I suppose the point of the film was to capture the climb in its entirety. 

 It's a bit difficult to fairly review this picture. The very fact that the film was made at all shows how brave the Director and his crew were, they should be commended for even getting 10 minutes of footage let alone a run-time of 1hr 27 min! It is a beautiful, mesmerizing doc that deserves to be preserved throughout the rest of time.