Mountain (ATOM Study Guide)

Synopsis

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.

Filmed by the world's leading high altitude cinematographers, with music by Chopin, Grieg, Vivaldi, Beethoven and new works by Richard Tognettii, artistic director of the Australian Chamber Orchestra, the film is directed by Jennifer Peedom, one of the co-creators of Mountain with Richard Tognetti.

Mountain is a feature documentary. 

A short preview can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvTkI8L4tgQ

Curriculum applicability

Mountain would be an exciting addition to any school curriculum. It would be relevant to students across a number of curriculum areas from middle primary to senior secondary. Mountains are some of the most ancient natural structures on earth. They continue to provoke both fear and wonder. The higher they are and the more inhospitable, the greater their allure and challenge as an adventure destination or for some, an astonishing playground where they can test themselves both with and against the elements and terrain.

In addition, it would be an inspiring film to show to students of film at upper secondary and tertiary level as an example of what film can do when filmmakers, musicians, writers and mountaineers work together on a project that honours all aspects of creative filmmaking, producing something that is both new and inspiring, real and imaginative.

Mountain marries the old and the new seamlessly in its approach to its subject matter, using new technologies such as Go-Pro cameras and drones to capture moments, images and perspectives on mountains that have only previously been available to the most intrepid filmmakers and cinematographers, working at extreme altitudes. It also acknowledges and respects mountain pioneers and the mountains themselves that have been there for millennia.