“THE SUMMIT” My rating: C+ (Opens Oct. 25 at the Tivoli)
96 minutes | MPAA rating: R
When did narration in documentaries become a dirty word?
Ever since the rise of cinema verite back in the ‘60s, narration has been fading. Maybe by eliminating conventional narration, documentarists hoped to separate themselves from TV journalism, which relied heavily on a narrator’s voice.
Thing is, some movies need a narrator. Like “The Summit,” an examination of the events of Aug. 1, 2008, when 11 climbers died on the slopes of K2, our planet’s second-highest peak.
Writer Mark Monroe and director Nick Ryan tell a complicated story from several perspectives (even people who were there can’t quite agree on what happened or who – if anyone – is to blame). Furthermore, the story drifts back and forth in time.
The film is screaming for a narrative voice to put things into perspective, to guide us, to explain the lay of the land. Without that “The Summit” becomes a frustrating example of inside baseball, with climbers talking in their own language and those of us on the outside scrambling to figure out what they’re saying.
Butler's Cinema Scene 