Review of Broad Peak

Broad Peak (2022)
5/10
Crazy or heroic?
3 February 2023
I find movies about climbers strangely fascinating, since I don't have a clue about what pushes them to do crazy stuff that very often ends with death by hypothermia.

Based on real events, the main character of this story is Maciej Berbeka, a Polish climber who attempted to reach Broad Peak in 1988, almost dying in the proceedings, only to be told that he stopped some 20 metres from the peak. To be noted, he stopped because he was exhausted and lost in a blizzard in terrible weather conditions.

On the way down he almost died and he talked about his near death experience as awful, since he spent almost 24 hours in a hole in the snow at -40° at over 8000 mt. A reasonable person would probably not be willing to repeat such an experience, but 25 years later Maciej is contacted by the guy who organized the first expedition and asked to go again, with three much younger guys.

After a short hesitation Maciej decides to go, stating that he needs "to finish what he started". It looked pretty much finished 25 years earlier to me, but the inevitable ensues, with a much older Maciej attempting another winter expedition with the younger guys just to prove... what exactly?

The story is told in a rather boring way, with sparse dialogue and little to no insight into any characters minds. Makes you feel cold and despairing about human nature. Still, some interesting photography.
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