oscar-stainton

Setting aside my own familiarity with director Carl Woods and the Riding Everest team, 'My Everest' is a remarkable achievement of independent filmmaking that undergoes an arc of its own, reflecting the mindset of the key individuals it seeks to understand.

After providing a warm insight into Max Stainton's life, including the therapeutic effects of horse riding from an early age, the documentary dovetails into the premise of why Max and his team set their minds to travel on foot and horseback to Everest Basecamp. After they land in Nepal the tone shifts, and we experience an echo of the immense struggles of Max, then-girlfriend Candy, and his dedicated team of friends and Nepalese guides.

Through naturalistic handheld cinematography, colour timing that ranges from sweeping and majestic to bitterly cold and desolate, and a tense and eerie score, we are made to feel the tension, vertigo and remoteness of the expedition. The effect is equal parts transporting and debilitating. Seeing the team, and Max especially, struggle with the high altitude, keeping hydrated, and the shared emotional and physical exhaustion throughout the is raw and unfiltered. Perhaps, watching the experience is even enough to make one question the desire to go mountaineering up to Everest.

In many ways, the film itself undergoes its own arc; at first reflecting the naïveté, optimism and ambition of Max, his friends, and riding support in the lead up to the trek. Throughout the scenes in Nepal, we are given the unromantic and honest nature of the trek. Upon returning to England, there is still a lingering question of what all this hardship was for. There is commemoration for the group's achievements but with a reflective, almost empty, look back on it all before the film reaches its endpoint of greater meaning for its protagonists.

Demonstrating a nuanced, emotionally honest and original message of realising one's innate, and tremendous, self worth versus societal expectations, 'My Everest' is not a finger wagging lecture towards able-bodied individuals, nor is it another tired faux-inspirational tale. Rather, it places its audience in Max's shoes and those of his team of friends, riding support and Everest guides with honesty, sensory overwhelm and reflective compassion. By giving us a sense of that physical, mental, and emotional toil of their expedition, 'My Everest' asks us to consider that anyone can realise their own self worth and right to happiness of mind and spirit regardless of what society restrictions and stereotypes are placed.

Sometimes certain films can leave a big impact on first arrival, but don't have the staying power to remain in public conscious. Despite a lot of comparisons to 'Lord of the Rings' (often unfavourable ones), I believe 'The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe' is probably one of the best films to recommend to a young person starting out in live action fantasy films, and can stay as an exemplary adaptation of C.S. Lewis' first part of The Chronicles of Narnia.

During the London Blitz of WWII, four children, Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy Pevensie, are evacuated to stay in a professor's house in the countryside. During a game of hide-and-seek, Lucy discovers a wardrobe that leads to the frozen land of Narnia, and befriends the benevolent faun Mr. Tumnus. She learns that Narnia is ruled by an evil sorceress known as the White Witch, who has made the land "always winter but never Christmas", ruling with an iron fist. Her siblings don't believe her at first, but soon they enter into Narnia with her and become caught in a brewing war between the White Witch and the noble lion Aslan, and must save their brother Edmund and all of Narnia from the White Witch.

The performances from the young actors are all solid; Skandar Keynes manages to portray Edmund as a misguided boy and not wholly malevolent as both sullen and sympathetic, William Mosely and Anna Popplewell provide warm and earnest performances and work well off their siblings, but young Georgie Henley simply glows as the innocent and sweet natured Lucy with boundless emotion and charm and my personal favourite among the Pevensies. Thanks to the added backdrop of WWII, I believe they feel more realized as characters, and it parallels the Narnian war they find themselves in.

Tilda Swinton encapsulates the cold cruelty and commanding presence of the White Witch; her inhumanity and seductive ways can be pretty creepy. James McAvoy brings Mr Tumnus to live right off the pages and I can find no fault in his portrayal. I especially love his interactions with Lucy, bringing a truly innocent friendship to life. James Cosmo even cameos as Father Christmas! In terms of voice acting, Ray Winstone and Dawn French turn in humorous and likable beavers, Rupert Everett has a fun cameo as a fox, and Aslan's warmth and wisdom is conveyed by Liam Neeson's excellent voice work.

By today's standards many argue that the CGI is rather dated and in some instances not well rendered, but it is still reliable in telling the story rather than showing off special effects for their own sake. Thankfully Aslan is consistently emotive, well rendered and animated to the point where you can easily buy into the movie illusion. The digital artistry, New Zealand locations and physical sets blend together to create a lot of beautiful visuals from the lamppost in the wintry forest to the epic battle between Aslan's army and the White Witch. Considering Andrew Adamson's earlier involvement in the first two Shrek films, this was a rather smooth transition from animation to live action film, but not a perfect one. For me at least, there's something incredible about seeing so many fantastical creatures like centaurs, fauns, satyrs, minotaurs and dwarfs amidst griffons, werewolves, lions, leopards, unicorns and other creatures come together to fight for a land of pure fantasy. The accompanying music of Harry Gregson-Williams is gorgeous, with lilting, gentle melodies and uplifting choruses for the many awe inspiring scenes, and it really compliments the film.

While LOTR was a war epic with a serious tone, the final battle feels more like an act of hope, in which Aslan would still be with them in spirit, which fits perfectly with Lewis' allegory of faith. The religious subtext is present but it's not forced, in fact it's rather subtle when compared to the book and anybody may be able enjoy the film without feeling bludgeoned by the religious symbolism. I feel that because of the simplicity of the story and characters, 'The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe' feels less engaging and very slight compared to Game of Thrones or LOTR, which is why it skews best towards a younger audience. The focus is largely on the sense of wonder and discovery of Narnia as opposed to the war, unlike LOTR, which I never believed the filmmakers were trying to directly imitate. Ultimately 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe' is an inspiring and heartfelt film that manages to capture the spirit of Lewis and brings a grand fantasy world to life.

Despite diverging in many ways from Kipling's classic novel, I love this film, and feel that it holds up well since when I was a child. It's been almost ten years since I last saw it and my affection for it hasn't declined. I cannot fathom why Disney hasn't attempted to revive it for a new release. It truly deserves more love.

One night in the jungles of India, Shere Khan the tiger attacks a convoy of soldiers of the British Empire whom Mowgli and his father were guiding. As a boy, Mowgli is smitten by the Colonel's young daughter, Kitty. In the chaos, Mowgli and his wolf cub Grey Brother are separated from the convoy and his father killed by the tiger and lost in the jungle. Bagheera the panther discovers the pair and leads them to the wolf pack where they are adopted as members of the pack. Mowgli also adopts a young Baloo as his brother. Mowgli grows up in the jungle and discovers his childhood sweetheart Kitty wandering through the jungle accompanied by her suitor, Captain William Boone. Mowgli follows her back to the British fort and his captured by Boone, but is freed on Kitty's request and is taught by her and Dr Plumford the power of speech and the ways of civilization, and Mowgli begins to fall in love with her over time. Captain Boone learns from Mowgli of the location of the lost Monkey City and its treasure within. Unable to adjust to life amidst the British aristocracy and saddened by Boone's proposal to Kitty, Mowgli returns to the jungle. However, Boone hatches a plan to lure Mowgli back to lead them to the lost city.

Famous Kipling elements such as the Law of the Jungle, the red flower as a symbol for fire and an affinity for nature are carried over which I believe makes it more genuine. Jason Scott Lee is emotive, innocent and sincere as Mowgli, and while I'm aware he's not Indian, I feel his performance solidifies his place in the role he truly feels closer in spirit to Kipling than the animated Mowgli (though I do very much like the animated film). Lena Headey is very likable as Kitty and has great chemistry with Jason, Cary Elwes is sinister and callous as the traitorous Boone, and Sam Neill and John Cleese both add humour and quintessential British charm to the film, especially Cleese in his interactions with Mowgli.

As any good film should I was swept up in the action, emotions and characters and being an animal lover I always rooted for Mowgli and his friends. While I was scared as a child at first, I still revisited for it's adventurous spirit and rewarding ending. I'd even go so far to say as this is Stephen Sommers' best film, balancing the more sentimental scenes with serious action and tension very nicely. The animal training is flawless; Shere Khan is an appropriately menacing force of nature, Grey Brother, Baloo and Bagheera are warm, benevolent brothers to Mowgli, and King Louie steals the show whenever he's on screen. The jungle and fort locations have a rich atmosphere and provide some beautiful visual elements, benefitting from actual location scouting in India. Basil Poledouris provides a romantic and exciting score that honestly deserves more attention, underlining the action scenes and moments of affection between Mowgli and Kitty. At 1 hour 50 minutes, it feels very nicely paced and manages to keep investment going.

My real problem with the movie is that, truth be told, this isn't really Rudyard Kipling's Jungle Book as the title would suggest. It can be too violent for a younger audience at times with the villains, Shere Khan, Kaa and the traps within the temple, and there are some instances of mild profanity but nothing I was especially disturbed by. And I suppose some people may be put off due to the fact that Sommers borrowed more from Tarzan (with Kitty as Jane) and Indiana Jones (with the human villains, temple and treasure) as opposed to Kipling that the movie's core concept does feel less original and the performances are just generally good enough to carry the story. Arguably its the best live action Tarzan film to date, only with an Indian setting, but it still pulls it off very effectively. Because of that same adventurous style, engaging visuals, romantic score and likable animal and human characters I still rate 1994's 'The Jungle Book' very highly and intend to watch it again soon.