The Wildest Dream (2010)

Uses astonishing visuals to tell the intersecting stories of George Mallory, the first man to attempt a summit of Mount Everest, and Conrad Anker, the mountaineer who finds Mallory's frozen remains 75 years later.

Director:

Anthony Geffen

Writers:

Richard Bedser (additional writer), Mark Halliley,

Stars:

Conrad Anker, Susan Robertson, Robert Macfarlane

2 wins.

Cast

Credited cast:
Conrad Anker	...	Himself
Susan Robertson	...	Herself
Robert Macfarlane	...	Himself
Peter Gillman	...	Himself
Jennifer Lowe-Anker	...	Herself
Julie Summers	...	Herself
Leo Houlding	...	Himself
Liam Neeson	...	Narrator (voice)
Ralph Fiennes	...	George Mallory (voice)
Hugh Dancy	...	Andrew Irvine (voice)
Alan Rickman	...	Noel Odell (voice)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Andrew Irvine	...	Himself (archive footage)
George Mallory	...	Himself (archive footage)
Natasha Richardson	...	Ruth Mallory (voice)

Storyline

Uses astonishing visuals to tell the intersecting stories of George Mallory, the first man to attempt a summit of Mount Everest, and Conrad Anker, the mountaineer who finds Mallory's frozen remains 75 years later.

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Plot Keywords:

summit | mountaineer | mount everest | mountain climber | loss of father | 

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Taglines:

Obsessed by a dream, torn by love, vanished into legend.

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Genres:

Documentary | Adventure | Biography

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for thematic elements involving hardships of climbing, and some historical smoking images

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 August 2010 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Wildest Dream: Conquest of Everest

Filming Locations:

Mobberley, Cheshire, England, UK

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$67,848 (USA) (6 August 2010)

Gross:

$873,594 (USA) (20 May 2011)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Altitude Films, British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), National Geographic Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Quotes

[first lines]
Narrator: Mount Everest. 29,000 feet. The highest point on earth. Captivating and deadly. In the 1920s, to conquer this mountain was the greatest challenge remaining in the golden age of adventure. Everest was the edge of heaven, where many believed no human could survive. But not George Mallory.

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Soundtracks

"The Edge of Heaven"
Song by Lisbeth Scott & Joel Douek
Courtesy of Cadence Music

User Reviews

"The Wildest Dream"

THE WILDEST DREAM tells the story of George Mallory's lifelong obsession with conquering the summit of Everest, culminating with his doomed third expedition in 1924 and the suggestion that he was indeed first to the top. With a stellar cast of voices including Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes and the late Natasha Richardson, the film blends the personal accounts of relatives, re-enactments, testimonies of historians, black-and-white films and photographs from Mallory's life and the correspondence between him and his wife. This creates a compelling piece that is part history, part mountaineering adventure and part love story. The atmospheric cinematography is a work of art (and an achievement in its own right given the challenging terrain), with vistas of the billowing clouds and snowcapped peaks below Everest, and the 'prodigious white fang' (as Mallory describes it) of the mountain itself. Mallory is brought to life with a poignancy that reveals the man behind the myth, whether as a tiny figure perched on a glacial rockface with the stars glittering above, or in his letter to his daughter where he describes himself as a 'greedy daddy' for craving cake and tea parties. Running parallel to this story is the modern-day expedition led by Conrad Anker, one of the mountaineers who found Mallory's body a decade ago. In his attempts to recreate Mallory's last expedition, additional angles emerge, providing insights into the psychology and dangers of climbing at high altitudes (particularly in 1924-style hobnail boots and gaberdine jackets). This is a compelling portrait of a man who proves that – as he says through the voice of Ralph Fiennes – 'there's no dream that mustn't be dared', even if the journey to the top is a one- way ticket.

Cambridge Film Festival Daily