Ed's Review Dot Com

Altitude Films

Conrad Anker, Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Natasha Richardson, Hugh Dancy, Alan Rickman, Leo Houlding

The Wildest Dream is a labor of love for Conrad Anker who discovered the body of George Mallory about 10 years ago. For decades, people have wondered whether George Mallory was the first person to reach the summit of Mt. Everest, the tallest mountain in the world in the early 1920’s. Sir Edmund Hillary is credited for being the first person to reach the summit (and return) in 1953 albeit from the south side which is supposedly much easier to climb. (The south side was not permitted in 1924.) The last sight of Hillary he was a short way from the summit at the second step, a difficult climb straight up. Today this is done by climbing a ladder, but in 1924 there was not way up but to climb by hand. Then clouds came in and obscured the view of the pair again, and when they never returned no one knew if they made it to the summit or died before reaching it. 75 years later Hillary’s body was discovered by Anker, many of his personal effects were found. One thing missing was his camera which he promised to take a picture from the summit. If the camera is ever found, it might solve the mystery, but another item clearly missing was a picture of Hillary’s wife which he had promised to leave at the summit when he made it.

Anker became very curious about the possibility of the climbers making it to the summit, and using the items of clothing and boots found on the body of Mallory, he designed clothing as close to what they wore as possible, and set out to recreate the climb of the second step clothed as Mallory was. He and his climbing partner nearly froze, but they did manage to both climb the second step, even though they had changed back to modern day equipment by this point. But at least they proved that it was possible to make this climb.

This documentary is very well done. It covers the life and history of George Mallory and his family and includes letters and writings of George and his beloved wife Ruth, as well as interviews with descendant grandchildren of Mallory. It merges footage from the 1920’s with the modern day climb in a very interesting montage of a movie. The views are breathtaking and you actually end up feeling like you know George Mallory and what made him make 3 attempts at Everest and a willingness to lose his life in the effort.

Certainly an excellent documentary for anyone interested in what it takes to take on this mountain, narrated by Liam Neeson. It looks so easy, yet is so difficult.

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