Red-Barracuda This early documentary chronicles a British funded expedition aimed at climbing the highest mountain in the world, Mount Everest, for the very first time. More specifically, this was the famous doomed expedition of 1924 where George Mallory and Andrew Irvine lost their lives somewhere just short of the summit. It remains unknown if they ever made it to the top. Mallory's body was found over seventy years later in 1999, Irvine's body has never been found, his ultimate location remaining an enduring mystery.This is one of those documentaries that you know in advance is going to end in a very bad way. The fate of the climbers is so well documented and was such big news at the time that the vast majority of people approaching this film will be only too aware of the downbeat nature this expedition ended on. The footage was taken by Captain John Noel with a hand cranked camera, which I am sure was a fairly bulky device, making it all the more impressive that this footage was shot at all considering that this heavy equipment would have to have been heaved so far up this most imposing mountain. Much of the climbing material was, by necessity, taken on a long range lens and is consequently quite limited; yet the long distance we see the climbers from gives the imagery a slightly haunting perspective. Nevertheless, there is a considerable amount of stunning photography of mountain vistas and, in general, it captures a feel of what the men saw there. In addition to this, there is some very valuable material captured of the isolated Tibetan people who live in the shadow of Everest. This was the first time they had been captured on film and so this is very nice time-capsule stuff. In fact, most of the smaller more personal details captured in the film are moments from the lives of these people, with actually very little of the climbers themselves. This is a shame, especially considering that this would be the final testament to Mallory and Irvine.As was probably unavoidable for a silent documentary it relies fairly heavily on title cards to convey information. But this is kind of what you would expect, nevertheless, it doesn't detract too much and the content generally is fascinating. Visually it has been beautifully restored by the BFI so that the imagery with its expressionistic colour tints can be appreciated in all their glory. Also pleasingly, a modern score has been composed too. For me, this is always a welcome addition to a silent film and in this case it is no different. It's a subtle minimalistic soundtrack with some live sounds added too for extra atmosphere and ambiance. On the whole, this is a very good bit of restoration work on a very fine old documentary. This is the kind of historical adventure that deserves to have some kind of visual documentation and even though we know it has a sad conclusion; it's beautiful in many ways.

paul2001sw-1 One hundred years before our present era of Facebook and Instagram, George Mallory and his fellow mountaineers took a camera crew with them to record their attempt on the then-unconquered Mount Everest. Famously, they nearly succeeded but Mallory and his companion Sandy Irvine both died in the summit attempt. It's amazing to watch the film of their expedition, now restored by the Britsih Film Institute. Judged purely as a movie, it has some limitations: the camera work is pretty impressive for its time, but it lacks the colour (and associated sound) of a modern film; in addition, although each filmed scene is described in detail, the full narrative of the mission is less well explained. For example, we're told we're about to see film of a rescue attempt high above the camp, before we've been told that the attempt had even been launched, and the logistics are only ever well explained when they've been directly filmed. Still, the movie allows us to get close to a historic and tragic episode; and to admire the crazy bravery of the men who climbed into the unknown.

Leofwine_draca THE EPIC OF EVEREST is a silent, tinted 1924 documentary that follows an ill-fated expedition to climb Everest by the explorers George Mallory and Paul Irvine. The documentary is a melting pot of icy vistas, adventure-style hiking and rescue, Eastern mysticism and camaraderie. I was worried that it might be staid and dull given the era it was released, but instead it's a vibrant film and one that's full of heart.Of course, the world was a lot different when this documentary was shot and much has changed, but that's what makes it so interesting and useful as a historical document. It's a snapshot of a long-forgotten world in which men heroically explored the globe and interacted with remote peoples, all the while pushing themselves to attain the unattainable.THE EPIC OF EVEREST is gripping in places and surprisingly moving given the eventual outcome of the expedition. I didn't feel that it had dated at all, as it had me hooked throughout.

l_rawjalaurence Newly restored by the British Film Institute with a specially-composed score, THE EPIC OF EVEREST recounts the failed attempt to scale Mount Everest by Mallory, Irvine and their cohorts. Dating from 1924, the film offers a fascinating insight into attitudes at that time. It begins with a description of arriving in Tibet, and the filmmakers' impressions of the locals; there is a combination of strangeness and colonialism that seems typical of Britain and its people at that time. They considered themselves at once superior to yet somehow inhibited by the presence of different ways of life. As the action unfolds, however, so the tone changes, as the members of the expedition discover just how difficult the task of conquering Everest actually is. Judging from the film, their equipment was rudimentary, to say the least; the mountaineers' outfits of puttees and parkas seems more suited to the Scottish Highlands rather than the Himalayas. In the end the two brave mountaineers who made an assault on the Everest's peak fail to return: the film concludes that perhaps they were thwarted not so much by their own hubris, but by the presence of Everest itself, that resisted any attempt at colonization. This is a fascinating conclusion, perhaps suggesting a gradual dawning in the filmmakers' minds that territories (and peoples) do not automatically submit themselves to imperialist rule. Some of the photography is simply breathtaking, given the equipment available at that time. THE EPIC OF EVEREST is well worth watching as a period-piece as well as an insight into mid-Twenties attitudes and how they could be re-evaluated.