Extreme Movie Night Vol.3
It’s been a while since I last recommended a movie or documentary. These days you can find reviews and comments on movies anywhere on the web. My purpose is not to write another review and be a judge to a movie. After all, I am not looking for a movie critic title here. This is Extreme Movie Night Vol.3 and below you can find all the reasons that led me writing about it!
©JimmyChin
Extreme Movie Night is bringing to you MERU – the story of three of the world’s elite climbers and their obsession – I’d call it determination too – to become the first to climb Mount Meru in the Indian Himalayas.
©JimmyChin
MERU managed to take my breath away and captivate me in ways that few documentaries have. It’s not just the breathtaking scenery, it’s the story itself. A hymn to the human nature’s potential and perseverance.
©JimmyChin
The untamed Shark’s Fin peak atop of Mount Meru in India had been the dream of world renowned climber Conrad Anker. Anker had given a shot to climb the Shark’s Fin in 2003. He failed like everyone before him also had. He, however, returns to the same location 5 years later, accompanied by his climbing buddy – and infamous filmmaker – Jimmy Chin and the young Renan Ozturk – also a climber and filmmaker.
©JimmyChin
The three of them started off well, but just around the gruelling mid-section of the peak, failure came again… Failure, however, is not something that would keep this trio from giving yet another shot to the inconceivable, to many, dream.
With Chin having just been swept up by an avalanche while skiing at home and Ozturk having just survived a near-death ski accident that almost left him paralyzed and in serious risk of a stroke should he be involved in any strenuous activity, the three attempt another climb in 2011.
The story is beautifully told, the narrative is breathtakingly sincere and the visuals equally breathtaking and peaceful. Chin who directed the documentary with his wife Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi did a magnificent work showing the true essence of this kind of extreme sports documentaries. The limitless possibilities of human persevering nature, painstakingly trying again and again to prove the impossible possible!
©JimmyChin
Enough words said though. The documentary is a must see in my humble opinion and it’s no surprise that it won the U.S. Documentary Audience Award for 2015.
Watch the trailer below.