The Summit of the Gods

A French animated film built on mountaineering. Fukamachi is a mountain photographer. In a shop in Kathmandu he sees an old camera. It may have belonged to George Mallory, lost on Everest in 1924, and the film inside could show whether he reached the summit. The man holding it is Habu Joji: a renowned climber who disappeared years ago and keeps away from people. Fukamachi sets out to find him. The film runs two lines. One is Habu's past: the climbs of his youth, a friend who died and an obsession with climbing alone. The other is the present: Habu is preparing a solo winter ascent without oxygen and Fukamachi follows him. What the narrative asks is why people climb. It gives no easy answer; Habu does not explain either. The animation is plain and realistic. The mountain sequences stand out in particular: snow, ice, wind and a sense of scale worked out in detail. The source is Jiro Taniguchi's manga. Patrick Imbert directed. It was released on a streaming service. A strong example for anyone who likes animation and mountaineering stories. For a viewer expecting action, the film is quiet, slow and consists largely of one man climbing.