A classical biopic, Tenzing (now on Apple TV) aims for two things for its namesake’s sake: respect and recognition.
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biopic → aim → sake
Most recognize the name Edmund Hillary, the New Zealander credited for being the first to reach the summit of Mt. Everest.
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Most → recognize → Everest
But his triumphant journey was a partnership with Tenzing Norgay, the Nepalese-Indian mountain climber who, at least in the Western world, never quite got his due.
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who → get → due
Director Jennifer Peedom put the skills she established with climbing documentaries Mountain and Sherpa into her first feature, and ultimately does her subject justice.
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she → put → justice
There are two ways to frame scaling Mt. Everest: The British use wartime terms like “conquer” and “siege.”
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British → be → terms
The Nepalese see it more holistically: “Climb like a child climbs into its mother’s lap” is the advice a Buddhist monk gives to Tenzing Norgay (Genden Phunstok).
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monk → see → Norgay
He grew up calling Everest “Chomolungma,” revering the beautiful and intimidating mountain peak as a goddess.
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He → grow → goddess
Thus an ideological battle simmers between master and servant classes as British colonialists proclaim Everest “a British mountain,” and send their own mountaineers up the frigid path to glory, but never without employing Nepalese Sherpas who better understand the nuances of the landscape and climate.
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who → simmer → landscape
The film covers 30 years of Tenzing’s life, from his parents abandoning him as a boy (Samdrup Dorje Lama), to the tragic love story of his young adulthood (Tenzin Dalha), to the experienced climber he was in 1952, when he joined a British Everest expedition led by John Hunt (Willem Dafoe) and featuring Hillary (Tom Hiddleston) among its ranks.
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he → cover → ranks
Tenzing straddled both worlds.
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Tenzing → straddle → worlds
As a youngster, he met legendary Brit adventurer George Mallory and was inspired to not just be a Sherpa assistant, but a legit member of a climbing team.
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he → meet → team
Somewhat reluctantly, Hunt grants that request, putting Tenzing in the minority among all the white men on the team, and at tentative odds with the Sherpas.
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Hunt → grant → Sherpas
Of course, the monthslong journey up Chomolungma is increasingly arduous, and Tenzing’s knowledge and skill keeps the expedition alive when things get hairy.
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things → keep → expedition
He and Hillary, slightly an outsider due to being Kiwi, forge a strong partnership that becomes an even stronger friendship as they prove themselves more worthy than their peers.
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themselves → forge → peers
Perhaps it goes without saying that status means nothing in life-or-death scenarios, no matter how hard haughty British men in service of the Queen insist it does.
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it → go → Queen
What Movies Will It Remind You Of?
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It → remind → You
We just watched The Last First: Winter K2 on Apple TV, a doc about pro — and unfortunately, amateur — alpinists attempting to climb the titular Pakistani peak.
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We → watch → peak
Phunstok’s performance — only his third film role — is endearing and effortless, his sincerity establishing the tone of this sturdy drama.
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sincerity → establish → drama
Our Take: Tenzing is from a somewhat bygone era of earnest BOATS (Based On A True Story) biographies that are visually strong and thematically broad.
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that → base → biographies
Peedom quite convincingly puts us on the mountainside, the wind a persistent roar, the snow crackling beneath boots, crevasses suddenly opening and threatening to swallow men like whale to plankton.
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crevasses → put → plankton
Filmed on location with real stunt work, it’s as authentically You Are There as any streaming movie you watch on the couch while trying not to be distracted by your phone can be, and yes, that’s a compliment.
Peedom wisely leans on that immediacy and the emotionally direct performances of Phunstok and Hiddleston, all of which counterbalances a screenplay, by Luke Davies, that features too much expositional dialogue and too many flashbacks, which disrupt the political/personal tension of the climb with biographical bullet points from Tenzing’s earlier years.
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which → film → years
But what comes through with crystal clarity is the aforementioned notion that man versus nature is an ideology of arrogance, and that man’s understanding that it’s at the mercy of nature is not only more logically sound, but more truthful.
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it → come → nature
Tenzing’s core conflict is less between men than the ideas they uphold – and perhaps ideas are more apt to change than the men themselves.
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ideas → uphold → men
Werner Herzog hugged him once.
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Herzog → hug → him
The Aporia
