Meru

Nothing like a good documentary about people doing spectacular things to inspire you to do great.

Three mountain climbers attempt to reach the top of an impossible mountain. Despite failing to reach the top their first time around, the impossible task does not stop them from trying again.

It's amazing insight about Mountain climbing as we watch these men doing what they love doing and were met to do. It's seems crazy what they are doing and the doc does not hide how crazy it is but it also makes you understand that they had to do it cause this is their passion.

The footage from Jimmy Chin was perfect at capturing the harsh conditions of the weather on top of Meru. One image that really got to me was when the mountain started to poor down hard ice. You could not even call it rain or hale. It seemed brutal.

Then they would switch it up with beautiful shoots of climbers going up the hill in such a beautiful atmosphere. I could feel the crisp air.

It helps a lot how close the filmmakers are to the subject matter. Though the narration could be dull at times overall it's a beautiful picture.

Just got back from seeing the documentary film "Meru" in the theater. I will probably write more on it later, as there's just too many thoughts swirling now 'round me head. And perhaps none of you will see the writing (I'll stick it on IMDb. But the short story is it's truly a marvel. And not just one of the best docs I've seen but one of the greatest movies I've seen in a VERY long time. There's such an immersing story there, and the 3 principle characters are fleshed out so impressively that by the end you really are emotionally invested in each and feel you understand deeply what motivates and scares each of them. It's a film which really shines a light on big ideas of motivation, inspiration, brotherhood, insane, I mean INSANE perseverance and really broad almost sports movie clichés territory. But they nailed it! Honestly this film takes on such subjects in such a way as to put to shame most of the "feel-good", "overcome the impossible", "overcome so much to follow your dream" - type films. And the fact that it's a true story is just all the more awe inspiring.

And yeah, can't stress it enough, each of the three climbers' back stories are just so dramatic, and interesting. Any one of the three could have a nice documentary film made about them. It actually is crazy how many awesome story lines exist here, how many twists and back stories exist in this documentary and how nicely they tie all three of their lives together so beautifully.

Oh and it's about climbing a mountain, what more beautiful built-in cinematography can you ask for? And what better built-in metaphor can you want for any goddamn goal you may have in life?

It's astounding. If you can see it, I highly recommend it. It is just about the most purely INSPIRING film I've ever seen.

Wow, this is one of the greatest viewing experiences I've ever had. The whole film put yourself as one of the team climbers with these three great, stubborn, die-hard, totally obsessed mountain climbers. What a cathartic therapy viewing journey! The Meru is just part of the Himalaya but more pure and an absolutely non-commercial summit unlike the Everest. We didn't see any littered garbage like what we usually saw along the route to Everest. When I watched this film, I couldn't help thinking of those films related to the mountain climbing: K2, Into The Thin Air, Everest, Cliff Hanger, Vertical Limit, even a old thriller, The Elgar Sanction. But this particular film would stand out quite uniquely. A simple narration, not exaggerated, not pretentious, not self-important or self-promoted with strong commercial stink. And the camera work, my, so crystal sharp and beautiful. I think 'Everest 2015' is way off the chart if compares to this one, plain and simple.

If you have the chance to watch this film, don't miss it, folks.

Elite climbers on a previously unattainable peak are just one level of this film which digs deeply into dreams, goals, dedication and hardship made all the more inspirational when the viewer realizes the insanely remote, high altitude, and technical location that this story was shot in. Watching the climbing on MERU is as foreign to most of us as landing on another planet yet the film has all of the human elements that we crave, portrayed in powerful honesty. During the final scenes, I realized that each of the three main characters had their own well-developed back story filled with intense personal struggles yet the three characters were equally compelling and developed to the point that I was filled with flash-backs of the film that I carry with me to this day, nearly 6 months after my first viewing. There has never been another climbing genre documentary like MERU.

"Meru" (2015 release; 90 min.) brings the story of three guys attempting to peak the top of Meru, an ultra-difficult mountain in the Himalayas that is considered as possible the toughest climb in the world. As the movie opens, we see the three guys in a hanging cod on the side of the mountain, looking utterly exhausted. We then go "3 Years Earlier", where we get to know Conrad Aker, fearless climber for whom "Meru is the culmination of everything I've wanted to accomplish as a climber (we later learn that he's summited Everest a number of times, but failed to summit Meru in one previous attempt). We also get to know Jimmy Chin and Renan Ozturk. Will they succeed and conquer Meru? To tell you more would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.

Couple of comments: first, I pretty much knew going in that I would like this documentary as I am a sucker for these types of "you gotta see it to believe it" type documentaries. This one may top them all. If you think Everst is hard, just wait until you see Meru's Shark's Fin towards the top of the mountain, a 4,000 ft climb straight up of solid rock. Second, Jimmy Chin decided to catch everything on camera, and hence is a co-director (along with his wife), co-editor and co-producer. The footage that we get to see is nothing short of jaw-dropping. At times, I felt dizzy just looking at the screen. Can you imagine what it must've been like to actually do the climb? But wait! there is more! Just as you think that the documentary is all about the quest for Meru, we get a couple of side stories that filled in the human aspects and as a result made the movie even that much more compelling to watch. Third, there are a number of talking heads giving further insights on what we are seeing, and by far the most interesting of them is Jon Krakauer, author of "Into Thin Air". Last, there is some great music in the documentary, including from J. Ralph, Explosions In the Sky and others.

"Meru" recently opened at my local art-house theater here in Cincinnati without any pre-release fanfare or advertising. I couldn't wait to see it. The early evening week day screening where I saw this at was not attended very well, I am sorry to say. I love documentaries, and I love watching extreme sports (emphasis on watching, ha!). "Meru" is a riveting documentary that will make your heart skip a beat or two. HIGHLY, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!