Tenzing reminds us who Everest’s heroes really are.
While many films of this category cover global stars with a goal of diving deeper into their story, Apple TV’s newest release intends to restore the unsung hero of Mount Everest to his rightful place.
On a British-led expedition in 1953, Tenzing Norgay was the most experienced mountaineer on Everest, having come within a few hundred metres of the summit the year prior. He was part of the climbing team, and was chosen to lead a team of Sherpas — an ethnic group from Tibet, Nepal, and India who have become synonymous with their mountaineering excellence. The expedition was a groundbreaking moment for sport, but Tenzing sets out to do justice by a man who, in the decades since, has become a symbol of foreign under-appreciation of local guides and porters, and focuses on Norgay’s spiritual relationship with the mountain, known in Sherpa as Chomolungma, or “Holy Mother.”
And although there are some dramatisations (this is a biopic, after all), Norgay’s treatment in 1953 and subsequent recognition remains at the heart of the film. In his English-speaking debut, Tibetan actor Genden Phuntsok is brilliant as Norgay, and offers a deeply personal look into his journey to the summit of Everest. Willem Dafoe’s John Hunt, the expedition leader in 1953, often symbolises a colonial condescension towards Norgay and his team, while Tom Hiddleston’s Edmund Hillary is somewhat of a moral counterweight, treating his climbing partner as an equal. I also thought Hiddleston was particularly good — given Hillary historically received most of the acclaim, it was crucial not to let Hollywood star-power overshadow Norgay’s story, and this was done well.
Needless to say, Tenzing is visually gorgeous. It captures the dramatic landscape of the Himalayas with the expected gloss of an Apple production, but does not shy away from nail-biting climbing sequences. Sure, there are a few formulaic tropes in the emotional childhood flashbacks and the low-hanging fruit of a comedic language mix-up, but the film is faithful to Norgay’s legacy on the whole. Where many depictions of climbing in the media present nature as an obstacle to be conquered, this film deliberately abstains. It directly challenges the prestige so often sought by Western explorers to say “we did it first,” and instead focuses on the realisation of a lifelong dream by someone so often considered an outsider.
Without Tenzing Norgay, there is no summiting Everest in 1953, and without Sherpas, there is no summiting Everest today, at least in its current form. Tenzing does well to remind us of that.
Photo by Michael Clarke on Unsplash
