What kind of person does it take to scale some of the world’s tallest mountain peaks? It’s a question that has been explored in numerous movies, from Free Solo to Touching the Void, my all-time favorite North Face, and others, many about the same mountain challenge. The Summit of the Gods is something different, though. The animated film, an adaptation of the Japanese manga, itself based on a novel by Baku Yumemakura, it follows a photographer who discovers a legendary camera. His find leads him on a dangerous mountain-climbing adventure with his mysterious friend.
The film is directed by Patrick Imbert in his directorial debut after spending years as an animator. The style employed here is very similar to other animated films that either explore real events or capture human drama, such as the acclaimed documentary Flee or Waltz with Bashir. Producers Didier and Damien Brunner worked on The Triplets of Belleville, which earned two Oscar nominations including Best Animated Feature.
The Summit of the Gods hits Netflix on November 30th, preceded by a select theatrical run on November 24th.
A breathtaking adaptation of the manga series by renowned manga artist Jirô Taniguchi and writer Baku Yumemakura, THE SUMMIT OF THE GODS follows a young Japanese photojournalist, Fukamachi, who finds a camera that could change the history of mountaineering. It leads him to the mysterious Habu, an outcast climber believed missing for years. Fukamachi enters a world of obsessive mountaineers hungry for impossible conquests on a journey that leads him, step by step, towards the summit of the gods.