Meru

Meru is not only about the first ascent of an extremely difficult Himalayan mountain, but primarily about the journey of a dream shared between three climbers who returned to the mountain despite a devastatingly unsuccessful first attempt and with a minimum chance of success due to the deteriorating health of one of them. At the same time, it is a film about the loss of loved ones and the determination to fulfil the team’s dream, even though “surviving your own death” clearly suggests “that’s enough of that!”. Shot in the craziest of places in luxurious image quality courtesy of Jimmy Chin. (18/09/2022)

A two-round duel with probably the most complex and difficult climbing challenge ever (Holeček and Kreisinger could tell); one of the peaks of Mount Meru Shark’s fin. This documentary is not so impressive because it shows the first successful ascent, but rather because it portrays both attempts of climbers in a way that you have a feeling you are standing right next to them. But even so, it is not the most impressive sequence. The most impressive one is the second third of the documentary, which covers approximately three years between the attempts and which describes the life of the central trio. And a lot happened during these three years, that is for sure. If it had been a fiction, no one would believe screenwriters, because you would think something like that simply cannot happen. What ultimately prevents Meru from being an unforgettable experience is, surprisingly, the final history of mountaineering that rewrites the ascent, which also offers one extremely interesting and controversial dilemma. It's hard to say if they had little material about this ascent or if it seemed similar to the first attempt, but it's portrayed way too quickly much and coldly that it's detrimental to it. (07/11/2015)

A documentary telling a pretty strong story, and it interestingly shows the limits of human potential and what the body can endure. The testimonies are very intense and delivered in a way that truly allows you to empathize with the various events. But it still didn't hit me that hard. (06/11/2015)