“Mountain” (narrated by Academy Award-nominee Willem Defoe) is an epic odyssey through the Earth’s most awesome landscapes, showing the spellbinding force of high places – and their ongoing power to shape our lives and our dreams. The film is a unique cinematic and musical collaboration between the Australian Chamber Orchestra and BAFTA-nominated director Jennifer Peedom.
“Mountain” is a dazzling exploration of our obsession with mountains. Only three centuries ago, setting out to climb a mountain would have been considered close to lunacy. The idea scarcely existed that wild landscapes might hold any sort of attraction. Mountains were places of peril, not beauty. How then have mountains come to hold us spellbound, drawing us into their dominion, often at the cost of our lives?
By the time Mount Everest was vanquished in the mid- twentieth century, mountaineering had become a quest for mastery rather than a search for mystery. Mountains were seen as adversaries to be overcome; places where fear could be taken to the edge – or beyond.
Millions are now enchanted by the magic of mountains. And where once their remoteness protected their purity, mountains have today become theatres for recreation: managed and commodified as parks and playgrounds.
But mountains are so much more than an escape, or an enemy to be overcome. Their greatest value lies in their power to inspire wonder and awe: to remind us of the limits of our schemes and ambition.
“A sublime rush of adrenaline and orchestral beauty." — Janine Israel, The Guardian
“A ravishing feat of vertiginous filmmaking...should be seen only on the big screen." — Harry Windsor, The Hollywood Reporter