Le sommet des dieux

Adapted from Jiro Taniguchi's manga, The summit of the gods is a visually gorgeous animated feature. It follows two characters, Habu and his obsession with climbing Everest and Fukamachi, a mountain photographer investigating Habu, and an old timey camera that may hold the secret of George Mallory's expedition...

The animation is incredibly good, conveying the mountain atmosphere extremely well, the sound design and music really emphasize it, adding to the unique feeling of such setting.

The story is also very well adapted from the material, streamlining the manga's narrative to focus on the two main characters and their respective quest. Keeping the back and forth in time of the book, it really works well at shining a light on the character's past, while also following theri ascension.

A wonderful animated movie that deserves your curiosity.

...that chronicles the tragedies and triumphs of obsession and ambition like no other film I've ever seen.

The hand-drawn animation is among the most gorgeous ever put to screen, emphasising the sheer beastly size of the landscapes that these mountaineers attempt to scale. It really makes the futility of their goals all the more tangible.

Yet at the same time, the rich emotion experienced by these characters' successes and failures is also on full display, and it serves as a reminder that our physical insignificance easily pales in comparison to the passions and persistence in our humanity.

This is easily among the top 5 best films of 2021.

This excellent watch lets you in on the minds and hearts of the mountain-climbers. I'm no mountain climber, but watching Habu Joji's journey made me realise -

Mountain climbing is one of the few places that demands you to live-in-the-moment. One miss and you risk your life. In that sense, it is one of the few places where the thrill of living-on-the-edge intersects with truly living-in-the-now.

And those who've experienced this first-hand find any other way to live too dull to be considered "living". And at that point, it's either "living" climbing-mountains and taking risks or not living. And, when you look at things from this perspective, all the risk mountain climbers take starts to makes sense..

A beautifully intricate and simple story about taking that step forward.

This film is going to have a short review. A very beautiful piece of art that I recommend everyone to see. A simple story with realistic consequences and surreal sequences. It shows both the danger of climbing and the unexplainable passion behind the journey to the top. Such a magnificent tale.

If you ever had passion in life, passion for anything no matter what, this is a movie to watch. Beautifully animated, written, well paced and satisfying from beginning to the end. Definitely another movie worth watching on Netflix and another animated gem.