Broad Peak

The breathtaking mountain climbing shots - especially when they pan out and show you where the climbers are in relation to the size of the mountain - is terrifying - how they get up these sheer ice faces is just amazing. I found most of the film very gripping and my only issue is that the time lag between the first attempt to climb Broad Peak and the second attempt is supposed to be 25 years later. This length of time seems more like a few years as all you see the main character doing is some joinery and giving some school talks etc. Plus he and his wife look no different 25 years later. I had to go and check that it really was 25 years later. Just a quibble though.

I find movies about climbers strangely fascinating, since I don't have a clue about what pushes them to do crazy stuff that very often ends with death by hypothermia.

Based on real events, the main character of this story is Maciej Berbeka, a Polish climber who attempted to reach Broad Peak in 1988, almost dying in the proceedings, only to be told that he stopped some 20 metres from the peak. To be noted, he stopped because he was exhausted and lost in a blizzard in terrible weather conditions.

On the way down he almost died and he talked about his near death experience as awful, since he spent almost 24 hours in a hole in the snow at -40° at over 8000 mt. A reasonable person would probably not be willing to repeat such an experience, but 25 years later Maciej is contacted by the guy who organized the first expedition and asked to go again, with three much younger guys.

After a short hesitation Maciej decides to go, stating that he needs "to finish what he started". It looked pretty much finished 25 years earlier to me, but the inevitable ensues, with a much older Maciej attempting another winter expedition with the younger guys just to prove... what exactly?

The story is told in a rather boring way, with sparse dialogue and little to no insight into any characters minds. Makes you feel cold and despairing about human nature. Still, some interesting photography.

Such an inspiring film of courage and perseverance. It's well shot and heartbreaking to know the story but well worth it. Humans ! Well made and a story worth telling. He lost everything the first time and for 17 mts had to go back and lost his life. I am speechless! Only curious as to how did the team know he didn't make it to the top when they weren't there and that it was exact 17 mts. Would love to understand that. What a team tough. The movie captures it subtly but well. The mountains are exceptionally beautiful and who wouldn't feel the desire to go ! I wish I could. Film is very well shot.

Wonder how can such an acclaimed director blow off such a fantastic story. We get attechet to absolutely no characters in the films. The story just passes by quickly, with no emotions nor suspense. Dialogues are rare, fragmented and have no relevance to the story. There are neither any questions nor answers in this film. Even the clibmbing scene es have no sense. We don know who is Berbeka, why he is climbing and what is it all about. His wife is completely in a shadow with no meaningful dialogues between them. There was such a great opportunity in this movie. Unfortunately we cannot experience it. I am soooo disappointed.

This is a typical film that should not have been made. The story that may have happened is not interesting for a moment. The scenes are sloppily tied together where there is hardly a story to discover. Apart from the fact that I do not understand mountain climbers, this is the worst film I have ever seen about the subject. The story is incoherent and the actors do not seem to be interested. I watched it for half an hour and then I knew, not worth it. It remains a shame that there are film makers who are not able to film this kind of subject better. In a word, a soporific, sloppy work, a waste of my time.