Aftershock: Séisme sur le toit du monde

Over 9,000 people died in the 2015 Nepal earthquake. Practically all of them nepal people. And this documentary focusses mainly on the rich western people that were in "need" on Mount Everest. And their "need" isn't like that of people in e.g. Kathmandu that were buried alive under piles of concrete and steel. Their "need" was arising mostly from panic and/or despair.

The main issue that I want to raise, is that this documentary has its priorities wrong. It should not be primarily focussed on the stories of the rich western people whom use sherpa's - nepali people that carry all the food and supplies like oxygen - as slaves. No, it should instead be focussed on the real suffering that occured in villages and Kathmandu.

In the current setup, it is like there being a major earthquake in San Francisco and a TV company making a documentary about a couple of rich Russian Oligarchs. Oligarchs that would have been visiting the area of San Francisco with their capitalist boats/ships during the earthquake. And it would be these rich Oligarchs, which would be portrayed in that documentary as being the ones most in need and as the major victims of that San Francisco earthquake... That wouldn't be fair, would it?!

So mainly because of this issue, I for once decided to NOT give a rating. Why?! Because although I was captured by the immensely beautiful videoshots of the Mount Everest landscape, I think that the priorities are wrong. Giving this show a high IMDb rating would not be fair to all the suffering and neglect of where the real pain occured after this earthquake: i.e. The poor nepali people that were buried under the debris in cities and villages. And giving it a low IMDb rating would also not be fair. Because the documentary clearly has some positive things. I therefore hope that you can understand my reasoning for not rating this show/documentary.

If you take nothing else from this documentary, take this: The absolute disconnect each of the visitors has to nature, self-awareness, personal responsibility, and their own humanity represented in this documentary is appalling. I've never remotely considered climbing Mt Everest an accomplishment but a crime against nature. The destruction of the mountain, the pollution, the garbage left behind, the learned lacked of humanity while stepping over the dead to get to an ego-driven checkbox on some egocentric list? Disgusting. If I were Everest I'd blow every week.

At the beginning, they tried to claim that "most ppl think it's just a bunch of rich ppl... some are just ordinary!" Ordinary?? How absolutely insulting and insane. Rich people are some of the most ordinary uncreative dangerously stupid inconsiderate creatures on earth. And this movie - while excellent- also leaves the viewer wondering why? Why make a doc about rich western ppl who have no connection to Nepal? The hotel owner, his employees and the reps of the govt and rescue effort, the villagers should have been the focus. Yes.

But I am also glad they showed the Israeli men too. They wear their victimhood like a badge of honor, continuously disrespecting the villagers who lost EVERYTHING, speaking as if the villagers were not equal to them, that THEIR lives were MORE important. They made me sick to my stomach Never once was there a mention - "if we are stuck here maybe we can find a way to help these people". Never happened once. Disgusting people.

Western culture has lost the plot. We are so beyond arrogant and ignorant this movie reveals that we, in our heart of hearts truly believe every mountain, every foreign culture, every THING belongs to us - to use and abuse at our will.

And the photographer? I'm waiting to see if she sells her photos and donates every penny to the villagers. Otherwise she's just as bad - and she never criticizes the behavior of her Israeli buddies either. The sorrow I felt for the people who lost their homes and loved ones still stays with me. The anger and grief I have for the selfishness of every visitor (except the HIV patient who gave compelling reasons for his decisions) still sickens me.

The real interviews and footage are amazing. The reenactments, less so. It is very interesting from a human interaction perspective. It is also heartbreaking sometimes, as you might imagine. Ever since reading "Into Thin Air, I have always been fascinated AND repulsed by Everest climbs. For the most part, they are for people that just have enough money to add the climb to their "accomplishments," all at the expense of the brave and competent sherpas that eke out a living from what has become a tourist destination. It's absurd really. The Langtang village interviews are eye-opening, that people can find conflict even when they should be working together.

Whilst this is an interesting look at the events, I cannot help to notice how Western focused this is... Barry anything is mentioned on the 9000 who lost their lives.

Having to also listen to how the group of Israeli men justify their awful decisions made me truly sick.

I do wonder wonder what the director was thinking at times... Either tel one story or the other, so not shoe horn the tragedy of the locals with the climbers on the mountain. I really do not know what message was trying to be conveyed here, are we to show sympathy for some of the most selfish people I have seen on camera? We should be ashamed.

As Episode 1 of "Aftershock - Everest and the Nepal Earthquake" (2022 release from the UK; 3 episodes; total running time 149 minutes) opens, it is "Saturday, 25 April 2015, Mount Everest", as we see several climbers at the Kumba Icefall just before noon, and a devastating avalanche is descending Everest. We then go to "Three Days Earlier, Everest Base Camp", as we are introduced to several of the climbers... At this point we are less than 5 minutes into Episode 1.

Couple of comments: this documentary mini-series is directed by Olly Lambert ("One Day In Gaza"). Here Lambert looks back to the truly awful events that happened in Nepal. Please note that the documentary is misleadingly titled. Yes, Everest is featured, but only in about one-third of the movie, Another third deals with how people in Nepal's poorly constructed capital Kathmandu deal with the events. And another third deals with how people in the LangTang valley and village deal with the events. But of course "Aftershock - Kathmadu and the Nepal Earthquake" or "Aftershock - The LangTang Valley and the Nepal Earthquake" doesn't have the same ring to it... Along the way, people that survived it all now tell their tale. "We acted out of survival instinct", comments one. The documentary includes both amazing and frankly frightening footage. I don't recall having seen Kathmandu in such vivid detail. And we also get not only the very good, but also the very ugly (cue: the 3 Israelis... what in the world were they thinking?). Last but not least, please do not confuse this documentary with a 2022 documentary from the US simply called "Aftershock".

"Aftershock - Everest and the Nepal Earthquake" recently premiered on Netflix. I binge-watched all 3 episodes last night, and these 2 1/2 hours just flew by. If you are in the mood to see the devastation of a poor country (which also happens to have Mount Everest) caused by a massive earthquake, I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion.