Summit of the Gods Now an Animated Movie

The Summit of the Gods was a mountaineering manga published in English by Fanfare/Ponent Mon between 2009 and 2015. (I’ve previously reviewed Volume 2 and Volume 3.) The appeal for me was the amazing art by Jiro Taniguchi.

I’ve just noticed that it was adapted into an animated film by French director Patrick Imbert and is now available on Netflix in the US. (It had previously been a live-action film in Japan in 2016.)

From an interview with Imbert:

In the end, Imbert came away with a greater appreciation of the mountain climbing obsession, though he admitted: “I think these guys are crazy. I think in some way it’s the same with the creative process. The competitive aspect is something I treat in the movie, but little by little Habu doesn’t care anymore about it. The main thing is that everybody has his own obsession. This is the only way to live.”

That was the appeal of the story for me as well — exploring the nature of the kind of obsession that drives someone to sacrifice everything to a compulsion. And the gorgeous art and stunning mountain imagery, of course.