Sep. 22, 2021|Luxembourg | France|95 Min.|PG
Genre: Adventure;Animation;Kids;Mystery
Description: The Summit of the Gods is a 2021 French animated film inspired by the Japanese manga series of the same name by Jiro Taniguchi. Directed by Patrick Imbert, the film premiered at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival in July 2021 and received a full theatrical release in September 2021.
The story revolves around a historical mystery from 1924 when George Mallory and Andrew Irvine attempted to climb Mount Everest but disappeared. Decades later, a young Japanese reporter named Makoto Fukamachi encounters a mysterious climber named Habu Joji, who may possess Mallory’s camera. This camera could reveal whether Mallory and Irvine were the first to reach Everest’s summit.
As Fukamachi becomes more involved with Habu, he eventually joins him on Everest to document Habu’s own attempt to conquer the peak. The film is an adaptation of the manga by Jiro Taniguchi, which itself is based on a 1998 novel by Baku Yumemakura.
Originally announced in 2015 as a French CG animation project, the film underwent changes in its production team. It was ultimately directed by Patrick Imbert, with a script co-written by Imbert, Magali Pouzol, and Jean-Charles Ostorero, and music composed by Amine Bouhafa.
The film’s unique animation style allows viewers to explore the world’s highest mountains in a way live-action cameras cannot. At its core, the story is driven by the search for Mallory’s camera, which a stranger claims to possess and offers to sell to Fukamachi in Kathmandu.
The Summit of the Gods was distributed internationally by Wild Bunch and made available for streaming on Netflix starting November 30, 2021, after its theatrical releases in the U.S. and the U.K. earlier that month.
Cast director: Patrick Imbert
Cast actor: Éric Herson-Macarel, Damien Boisseau, Elisabeth Ventura, Lazare Herson-Macarel, Kylian Rehlinger, François Dunoyer, Philippe Vincent, Luc Bernard, Gautier Battoue, Marc Arnaud
Original name: Le Sommet des dieux