Sherpa

Wow I am ashamed to be a New Zealander after watching this. All he cared about was the almighty dollar. Great documentary.

As for the guy who asked who "owned" these men. Could not believe my ears. Disgusting.

I went in expecting a 'spectacle documentary' but Sherpa turned out to be so much more.

As with so so many great documentaries, the film-makers went in expecting to make one type of film and came out with something much more than they could surely have hoped.

The spectacle of the cinematography should be enough to draw an audience; if that fails the human story is powerful - moments of heavy emotion and a heart-rending look in a wife's eyes still rattle about in my head.

Many other themes are strewn throughout also, giving the film a pleasing depth - politics, racial divides and differences, economic realities of mountain life and exploitation of nature amongst them.

One of the greatest triumphs for me is that we go on our own expedition with the subjects but also with the film-makers: As their plans become derailed and their film goes in a direction they could not have expected we join them - We find ourselves embroiled in real- life drama and tragedy in perhaps the most dramatic of all locations on Earth.

Hard to say - what was left on the editing floor but, it appeared to be from the Sherpa's perspective. One theme which rang through to me was the old 19th Century Master/Slave, Explorer/guide, Great White Warrior theme. And yes, during one of the down time cooling off talks one of the climbers did ask who "owned" the Sherpa who was making the trouble. I have never been over there but to me it seemed to be the Sherpa/Climber relationship has grown from the original 1953 Hillary climb where the climber's held the upper hand and the Sherpa's were subordinate - this film documents the reconsideration of that previous relationship. So it is a worthwhile documentary which I think all interested in climbing will enjoy. Now, personally for me, it's another crack in the wall of white supremacy, imperialism, whatever you want to call it. The hubris of these climbers who "brave Everest" when everything is prepared, lugged, cooked, constructed, behind the scenes by Sherpas is sickening. Their indignity at the Sherpas who dare have an opinion is amazing. Their insensitivity to local loss of life is embarrassing. Using the white supremacy term is serious so let me explain further. There is a movement in Congree to make the Buffalo our National Mammal. Ludicrous. We Europeans wiped out the Buffalo - some for sport some for tongues, and most tragically because we wanted to starve/force the Indians to the reservations so we could steal their land. One of the most noble civilizations ever along with the Buddhists and we wiped them out because we had our Manifest Destiny. What we are/were looking for could be found in the Indian way of life we destroyed. Ditto for chapter 2: the black man. We rape and slave them right out of Africa and act like it's their fault when they are "freed" and try to adapt to be 2nd class citizens. So we put a black on our money and make the Buffalo our national mammal - all fixed? Sorry for the rant but we treat the Sherpas with the same European contempt.

This film manages to shine a bright light onto the heroic and humble Sherpas who come across as having a great deal more humanity and dignity than some of the climbers that rely upon them. It's simply unbelievable that in the 21st century someone can bleat on about what the Sherpas "owners" might think about their demands! That chap needs to climb into some elementary school or undertake some self awareness training for his next expedition. This contrasts with Phurba Tashi, a Sherpa with 21 ascents under his belt, a mountaineering giant who has retained amazing humility despite his achievements and who shows remarkable self control and dignity whilst being patronised in front of his Sherpa brethren. In many ways his final decision just demonstrates his excellent judgment and courage. There is no preaching here by the filmmaker - all the film does is let us see the realities. It's an important mountaineering film.

The first review I wrote went into too much detail about the underlying narrative of this movie.

Which I realise now is effectively a spoiler.

So, let me get to the point.

Watch this and get schooled in how the world really works and what some people really think beneath their veneer of respectability.

I won't say anymore but this is an engaging film that says so much about the worth of respect for oneself and your fellow human being.....all under the guise of a documentary about Sherpas (which is does an admirable job with).

It's a film dealing with much more than Sherpas but the global nature of privilege, greed, corruption, money and power.

Watch it.