Everyday Activist - The 33 | Everest

Posted on Wednesday, December 16, 2015 at 05:00 PM

The 33 | Everest

Movie Review by Everyday Activist X CalgaryMovies.com

It’s so weird writing about non documentaries, because I can pretty much write at any time since Hollywood films have easy access. Truth be told, I did watch both of these films in the theatre. Unfortunately they came out in the peak of festival season so I didn’t have time to review them then. However, since I’m priming to start writing about the Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour, which comes to Calgary in January and February, writing about mountain life fits. As to why I chose to review them together, it’s because I feel they suffered the same setbacks.

Briefly into the summaries Everest is about one of the more fatal years climbing Everest back in the mid 1990’s and The 33 was based on the events surrounding 33 Chilean miners who got trapped underground. Unless you’ve been in a similar situation you can’t possibly understand or portray what the characters experience. As someone who has been in a situation where she was waiting seven hours to be rescued from a cave, to watch the lame display on the movie screen causes eye rolls. The tension simply isn’t there. Then the problem is exacerbated by fractured story telling. Too much was going on both underground and on the surface to keep of track of who was who. The screen play needed way more revisions, but like the actors, if the writers have no experience with the terror of being trapped underground, how can they convey the message?

The biggest difference between caving and mountaineering community is that cavers are friends for life, which if you know the culture, explains why the 33 miners are essentially brothers. Mountaineers would shove you off a mountain if it meant they got to be first on top or outright lie about making to the top *cough* Cerro Torre. In Everest, the highly competitive nature of the sport wasn’t properly presented. The competition between the two companies was kind of explored, but to see how mountaineers really act, catch The Summit on Netflix. I <3 Jake Gyllenhaal, as an actor, however he should have hung out in Cedar Wright (American climber, filmmaker and not my favorite person) to understand American mountaineering a bit better. If you’ve never climbed a mountain, you can’t describe what goes through your head when you see your goal. Life and limb don’t matter and more disgustingly other people’s lives and limbs don’t matter either. You got a sense of this with some of the clients in the movie, though the reality is much more dramatic. Just wait for my review on Sherpa :)

If you have nothing to do over the holidays, both films are entertaining and a great way to get you in the mood for real mountain movies. The cinematography of Everest was gorgeous in IMAX 3D. The 33 touched a bit on the social justice issue of the mine owner not being held responsible for negligence. Of course to me that would have made a much better movie. Maybe someone will make a proper documentary of it someday. If you want a more authentic mountain experience The Summit is available on Netflix last time I checked. K2 Siren of the Himalayas is also on there for now. If Touching the Void comes back, it’s also pretty good. Having met the film maker for it, the actors actually experienced the terror and uncomfortable circumstances of mountaineering. Enjoy the holidays! :)

Calgary Showtimes: The 33 > | Everest > | Everest 3D >