Tenzing? What is a Tenzing I might hear you say and in this case it is not a drink. Well Tenzing was a man from the boarders of India and Nepal. This film is based on a true story of his life and a man who looks to Chomolungma (Mt Everest) and sees it as a living breathing thing that he wants to be proud of him.
Back in the 1930’s-1950’s once per year a group of climbers were allowed the chance to climb to the summit. However up and including 1952 none had succeeded. In 1953 it was Great Britains turn to attempt to reach the summit and of course who else but Tenzing (who had been part of the Swiss failed attempt the year before), would they come to, to add to their team to hopefully make it a success.
As a boy Tenzing got to try on the famous mountaineer George Mallory’s boots and then meet the man which in turn showed him his future and from that day he wanted to reach the Summit of Everest. Who else then would the British want as part of their team. However, Tenzing would only do it if he was allowed to be one of the main climbers and not just The head Sherpa, where he wasn’t even accepted as he was seen as an outsider. The British had to relent or no Tenzing.
As this is not a spoiler review, I will stop here on the detail. That you be fair you could no doubt find on Wikipedia if you so wanted ;). I must say this was an excellent film. The way it is structured is you get to see parts of the expedition, intermingled with Tenzing’s life and how he got to become the man he was.
Tenzing Norgay was brilliantly played by Genden Phuntsok and hopefully this is not the last we will see from him on screen. Tom Hiddleston plays Sir Edmund Hillary, the kiwi that also got to the Summit (Spoiler Alert ;)), with Tenzing. Both have a great chemistry together and they are ably backed up by Willem Dafoe, who portrays John Hunt who was the leader of the expedition.
The film is beautifully shot by Cinematographer Stefan Duscio (Upgrade & The Invisible Man). It was directed by Jennifer Peedom, who has a history with this subject, where she also directed the Documentary Sherpa – https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3746250/?ref_=nm_knf_t_2, which I am now going to have to watch.
This is currently in cinemas, though due to its subject matter, probably not too long. I would highly recommend seeing it in the cinema if you can. However, if not definitely try and catch it when it comes to Apple TV or other paid subscribers as films like this deserve to be seen.
Tenzing is Mister Amazing and yes you will need to see the film to get that in joke 😉
