Mountains talk in action-packed tale

Mountain is Australian director Jennifer Peedom’s second great ‘‘mountain’’ film – following Sherpa last year – in which there was a story to be told following a deadly avalanche that killed 16 Sherpas and brought the commercial climbing of Everest to a temporary halt.

This time it is just the mountains themselves that tell their story via the voice of actor Willem Dafoe reading from the book of the same title by Robert Macfarlane.

The film is supported by many graphic airplane and helicopter panoramic sweeps over mountain-scapes from around the world. To add life and accentuate the atmosphere there is musical backing by the Australian Chamber Orchestra.

There are several changes of mood; from the snow-covered panoramas to various extreme sports where dare-devils undertake life-threatening exploits. Many of these shots are of intrepid individuals and there are some astonishing freewheeling skiing spectacles.

But, there are also shots of massed groups of holidaymakers queuing for lifts and flooding down the mountains en masse.

Peedom also treats the developing of commercial assaults on Mt. Everest with similar disdain.

Another contrast with the pure whiteness of many of the sequences is brought about by the switch to the fire of Moana Loa in Hawaii with rivers of redhot lava flooding down to the sea.

The exciting exploits of crazy mountaineers together with the grandeur of the snow-filled images makes for an aweinspiring experience within the warm comfort of a cinema.