Tenzing Review | The True Story of the Two Men Who Conquered Everest
In this review of Tenzing, we follow the 1953 British expedition aiming to conquer Mount Everest. But for Tenzing Norgay, the historic climb was far more than a feat of endurance—it was a deeply personal spiritual pilgrimage.
by Garry Murdock
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Tenzing takes us back more than a century, to 1924. It opens on a young Tibetan boy, wrapped in warm clothes and carrying a walking stick, herding water buffalo high in the mountains of Nepal. He stops to take in the spectacular view of Mount Everest (known as “Chomolungma” to his people) in the distance. He seems thoughtful, almost wistful. In that moment, we know we are in for an adventure.
The boy heads into the village and soon encounters strangers assembling gear for a climb. One is George Mallory, already a legendary explorer and mountaineer at just 37. The boy asks, rather naively, if he can join Mallory’s expedition. The request gets a good laugh, and fortunately it is declined: Mallory will not return from this climb. In fact, neither he nor his climbing partner will ever be seen alive again. That’s how dangerous it is to climb the world’s tallest mountain.
It is unknown whether Mallory reached Everest’s summit or perished on the way down. His body was not found until 1999, and his camera—which may have contained evidence of a successful ascent—was missing.
But this is not Mallory’s story. It is the little boy’s. His name is Tenzing Norgay, and he will grow up to become one of the world’s most legendary mountain climbers.
Through a series of flashbacks and flash-forwards, we see Tenzing in various stages of his life—played by Samdrup Dorje Lama as a boy, Tenzin Dalha as a young man, and Genden Phuntsok in his late thirties. We follow along on Tenzing’s journey as he finds love, starts a family, and, through persistence and luck, becomes a Sherpa: an expert guide and load-carrier for mountaineering expeditions. He eventually earns a reputation as the climber who has gone the farthest up Everest.
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Then tragedy shatters his life. He loses his wife and finds himself the sole guardian of two daughters. He recovers, but he is a changed man.
When the British organize a new Everest expedition in 1953, Tenzing is interviewed by Colonel John “Failure Is Not an Option” Hunt (Willem Dafoe). Hunt is fair and wants what is best for the expedition. He first offers Tenzing the role of Head Sherpa, but Tenzing refuses, requesting a place as a full climbing member—an equal.
Sherpas do all the heavy lifting and a lot of the dangerous work on an expedition—carrying all the equipment, setting up tents, guiding the team and carving pathways into the ice—with no credit or glory. Hunt relents, because he knows talent when he sees it. He grants Tenzing’s wish, although the man will actually have all the responsibilities on the climb of a Head Sherpa anyway.
There’s another problem too. Tenzing knows he will be leaving his two daughters behind, that he will be breaking the promise he made to his eldest not to climb again. But what can he do? This is the moment he has been waiting for all his life. Remarkably, the daughters support his decision and anxiously await his return.
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The clock is ticking. Their permit is valid only for that year. Next year, the French will get their chance—and may reach the summit first if Hunt’s team fails. With a monsoon approaching, victory seems increasingly unlikely.
The team faces avalanches, extreme weather, ice, hidden crevices, hypoxia, frostbite, and infighting. One Sherpa does not respect Tenzing, and his constant bickering sways the others, leading them to mutiny at a critical point in the ascent.
This is a huge problem: without the Sherpas’ immediate cooperation, the mission is doomed. It is Tenzing who displays the leadership abilities that persuade them not only to cooperate, but to become enthusiastic supporters of the mission.
Edmund Hillary (Tom Hiddleston) is also along for the journey. Hillary is not British; he is a New Zealander. Like Tenzing, he feels like an outsider. The two quickly become friends and, over the course of the expedition, save each other’s lives.
“Only two of you are going to step on the summit,” Colonel Hunt announces to the team. “That decision will be based on merit.”
Tenzing doubts this, but he presses on, finding a way across a deep crevice that the others have given up on. This saves the group valuable time. However, neither he nor Hillary are chosen for the final push to the top. When that attempt fails and the weather miraculously clears, Tenzing comes up with a plan that may lead them to victory.
The film’s visuals of the mountain and the group’s trek are admittedly beautiful—but not breathtaking. As such, I could not help wondering how much better this film might have looked had it been shot in IMAX (see my article on The Odyssey’s exclusive use of IMAX cameras for more on that). Nevertheless, Director Jennifer Peedom has delivered a strong story, and it is well cast with some outstanding performances—especially by Phuntsok, Hiddleston, and Dafoe. The actor who played Tenzing as a young man, Tenzin Dalha, also deserves special mention—as it’s in this earlier period of his life when we really get to know what drove him.
The film excels is in its depiction of Tenzing’s unbreakable spirit—from his early struggle to become a Sherpa to his later efforts to reach the summit. It also captures the bonds he forms along the way: with his wife and daughters, Hillary and Hunt, and his fellow Sherpas. Perhaps most significantly, it presents his quest to reach the top of the mountain not as a physical conquest, but as a spiritual pilgrimage. For these reasons, it is deeply satisfying to see his story finally brought to the screen for millions to discover.
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As of this writing, the film has scored an 8.1 on IMDb (which is quite high for IMDb), and an astonishing 95% Rotten Tomatoes score.
The end credits say: “The ascent of Everest was celebrated as one of the 20th century’s most significant achievements.”
I believe it—especially when you consider that the climbers had no GPS devices or other gear today’s mountaineers take for granted. Since their ascent in 1953, more than 7,500 climbers have reached the top. But Tenzing and Hillary were the first, achieving what had once seemed impossible.
Tenzing will release in select theatres on October 9 and will premiere on Apple TV on October 16.
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