K2: Siren of the Himalayas

Good movie!

source: K2: Siren of the Himalayas

Documenting the journey to K2:the drive, the trek, the climb and the camaraderie; this is a great story of what K2 stands for; the dreams it inspire and the hopes the gets lost. This is one of the most challenging mountains in the world climb and the film documents the personal engagement that goes into climbing this mountain whilst also capturing the breath taking scenery of the Karakoram. Being an alpinist and mountaineer myself, I fully identify with the personal challenges that Fabrizio, Gerlinde and the team faced. At this altitude every choice you made has a direct and real consequence on your own and you team's safety. It is really easy to sit in your armchair and judge someone halting their summit bid but not as easy to understand the very lengthy decision process they have gone through before the decision is made and I think that this file captures that very well. Keep in mind that the physical, emotional and financial investment in undertaking an endeavor like this started more than 12 months before they even set foot on the mountain. When the summit attempt is abandoned, they know that they may not be back for years, if ever again. They also know that going against their instinct and pushing for a summit attempt may also mean perishing on the mountain. Only experience and gut-instinct keeps you alive at this altitude so don't think that a decision to abort comes easy. To me, this documentary captured that personal experience and emotional journey that embarking on a journey like this entails and that is why I rate this film a 10/10.

I watched for the nice scenery. We know as a rule that climbers are complete wipes. I just didn't take to Fabrizio Zangrilli. He looked to sinister. Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner she went on and on. That lady could talk 25 hours a day ! The interacting with that old footage (Yawns) who cares. Watchable but actionless as nobody perished died.

I have enjoyed watching this doc with the different stories and interviews. some of the old stock footage doesn't really go with the material and looks choppy when paired with the newer footage. The biggest criticism I have is that the generic voice-over sounds like a computerized voice and is extremely annoying and takes away from the story. Couldn't these guys hire a real voice-over guy and not a computer!? Kind of ruined the overall experience and I fast forwarded through those spots- This could have been more of a higher quality doc if the editing and voice-over was more professional. I understand it probably was very low budget but some areas shouldn't have been overlooked.

The premise is very simple, it simply charts the attempts by a group of climbers wanting to tackle K2, one of the most dangerous mountains in the world. Although it wasn't as detailed as I'd have liked in terms of the actual ascent and the specific challenges faced (we go from base to camp 4 in one scene, essentially) it shows the types of people who take in this challenge and does a good job of explaining what motivates them. In some respects, what we lose in terms of a technical/detailed discussion of WHY K2 is the siren of the Himalayas we gain in more personal, human insight. Experienced & avid climbing enthusiasts will probably enjoy it but possibly won't learn anything they don't already know. I liked the way it used the accounts of the early expedition Abruzzi as a narrative device and showed how similar & yet how different early & modern climbing is. Overall I thought it worth the download.

Good documentary,over all I liked i. However in documentary they said Messner was first to complete Magic Line. Messner did find it himself never finished the route, but was the one to name it.Magic line in fact was first climbed by a Polish/Slovak team. Many said that Messner called Magic line suicide and most difficult route! However in TV interview he said:I Never called it suicidal: "It's a safe route. The South face (climbed by Kucuczka in 1986 and called Polish route) is too dangerous. In fact so called Polish route was not yet repeated. Documentary was good however it didn't show real difficulty and human struggle against the mountain. this mountain is definitely very hard but some how that was missing here.

Good movie!