24/03/2022 - While there is some truth in what Ibón Cormenzana recounts in his film, his good intentions get lost amidst an obsession to convey his message

What makes a person able to put their life on the line by climbing a mountain? What are their motives? What leads someone to want to live their life cut off from the world, in the most extreme solitude? These are just some of the questions that crop up while watching Beyond the Summit [+see also:
trailer
interview: Ibon Cormenzana
film profile], the new film by Basque director-producer Ibón Cormenzana, which was presented in the Official Section of the Málaga Film Festival and lands in Spanish theatres on Friday 25 March.

Beyond the Summit tells the story of Mateo (Javier Rey) and Ione (Patricia López Arnaiz) during their ascent of the Annapurna, one of the most perilous mountains in the world. Ione is a seasoned mountain climber who, after reaching her goal (that of climbing the 14 eight-thousanders), decides to cut herself off in a house in the middle of the mountains, far from any form of human contact. After the death of his partner, Mateo resolves to successfully reach the summit of the aforementioned mountain at all costs, and thus fulfil a promise that he made to his partner when she died. In the midst of their existential conflicts, both characters will find one another and will embark on an adventure that will force them to confront the limits of being human.

Cormenzana’s film boasts a decent starting point: there is some truth in what he recounts. One can tell that there is something personal behind this story of trauma and the desire to overcome, not just on account of the challenging nature of his physical and technical commitment (shooting in extreme conditions), but also because of the emotional universe that lies beneath the physical one. The landscapes that appear in the movie are truly impressive: there are some really remarkable images here. But what’s more intriguing is what lies beyond all that, things that are not so readily visible, such as what is happening inside these characters to make them act in the way they do, their personal struggles, the ghosts that haunt them, their desires and the way they exist in the world.

Cormenzana also has good intentions, as he tries to portray that emotional world from a place of sobriety, using bare-bones methods: a space, two characters and a crossroads. From that point on, the truth embedded in each character, their feelings, emotions and attitudes to life, are reflected (or at least this is the intention) through silence and ellipsis, and more through what is left unsaid than the things that are actually uttered (Arnaiz’s performance is a brilliant master class in containment). At times, the movie pulls off this virtuous feat, depicting life’s most profound and most painful depths, its moments of sadness and joy, in a veiled fashion. There are some genuinely moving images that say so much more than all the words ever could: Rey’s character scattering the ashes of the person he loved from the summit, for example. Those moments speak to the presence of death in life, to the search for one’s destiny and the price of said destiny, to the meaning of love. But when the director or the lead actor try to say too much or surrender themselves entirely to the message, that’s where the movie starts to flounder. There are some scenes that do not hold up at all, which are merely aesthetically beautiful or, God forbid, moralistic.

But Beyond the Summit does have some accomplished moments. There are images that reflect the mysterious qualities of the characters and the abyss within them, their anguish in life, their quest to move on. But good intentions do not suffice. In fiction, you have to know how to tell a story, with its accompanying unresolved questions and its dark recesses. It’s just a pity that Cormenzana wanted to over-illuminate his interesting film.

Beyond the Summit is a co-production between Spain and France, staged by outfits Arcadia Motion Pictures, Aixerrota Films, Dorothy Films, Noodles Production and Lazona Producciones. It is distributed by Filmax, which also oversees its international sales.

(Translated from Spanish)