TENZING

Jennifer Peedom made her name directing Everest documentaries like SHERPA, and she brings that same poetic eye to TENZING in a style that reminded me of Chloé Zhao’s work on HAMNET. Throughout the film, Tenzing calls the mountain Chomolungma, the Tibetan name meaning Goddess Mother of the World, and Peedom shoots every frame of it with the respect that name deserves.

Genden Phuntsok plays Tenzing, and his performance belongs in the conversation with the best of the year. I’d never seen him before, and he carries the film with his heartfelt eyes, finding the devotion and exhaustion of a man who spent his life trying to reach the top of the world.

TENZING has no villain. The conflict comes from the climb itself, with its thin air and brutal cold, and from doing something no one had ever done. Watching Tenzing push through all of life’s obstacles to achieve the impossible makes the story incredibly inspiring.

What holds TENZING back from my top rating is its fragmented structure. Peedom truly wanted to honor the life of Tenzing and what came before his ascent. Yet by cutting back to his journey to get there, she sometimes pulls the audience out of the most intense sections. For me, the film would’ve hit harder if she had told the story linearly and then flashed back to the key moments at the summit push.

Final Thought: A quote that stayed with me: “They see mountains; we see ourselves.” Tenzing may have seen himself in the mountains. However, audiences will easily see themselves in him, because TENZING celebrates the human spirit at every step of the climb.

It’s in limited release in theaters now and hits Apple TV on October 16.