If being at the right place at the right time can make or break a particular breed of documentary, the odds of coming away with the goods have got to be better atop Mt Everest than damn near anywhere else. In the case of Sherpa, with its focus on the Himalayan people who shlep expeditions’ gear up the mountain and are reliant on the income this provides, this setting can only aid a film that likely would have proved revealing even without the drama that the peak provides.
The Sherpa people are typically in the background, if at all, in films about Everest such as re-enactment of Sir Edmund Hillary’s feats Beyond the Edge or Everest, Hollywood’s take on Rob Hall’s tragic demise. To see the home and family one Sherpa leaves behind lends valuable context to the risks taken on foreign climbers’ behalf, before the film joins him on a commercial expedition, one that sees tragedy and simmering tensions combine.
Director Jennifer Peedom has shot several previous Everest projects, and this experience aids both the film’s raw footage and the relationships drawn upon. If you’re in the mood for mountainous intrigue that’s not The Eiger Sanction, you could do worse than this, especially if over-familiar with globe-trotting Westerners indulging an appetite for thrills. Fear not, though, Sherpa has little desire in hammering any particular message home, beyond offering a window into a seldom-seen culture.
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