Time: 125 Minutes
Age Rating: PG – Coarse language
Cast:
Genden Phuntsok as Tenzing Norgay
Tom Hiddleston as Sir Edmund Hillary
Willem Dafoe as John Hunt
Caitríona Balfe as Jill Henderson
Tenzin Dalha as Tenzing (Younger)
Director: Jennifer Peedom

I was interested in checking out Tenzing. It’s about the climb to Mount Everest, starring Tom Hiddleston as Edmund Hillary, and focussed specifically on Sherpa Tenzing Norgay. It was actually quite good.

As a biopic, it is pretty conventional, standard and formulaic with little surprises. As tense as the mountain scenes are filmed, it can’t escape the knowledge and feeling that everything turns out fine. One thing I liked was that while the movie is about the Everest climb, the film is more about Tenzing, and we get plenty of flashbacks of him over the course of the mountain climb. It very much takes place through his perspective and is an emotional journey for him. I felt that the steady pace really worked for the film, and I was engaged with it throughout its 2 hour runtime. I also liked seeing the Nepalese people’s relationship with the mountain.

The cast is really good, everyone feels very lived-in within their roles. Genden Phuntsok delivers a compelling and convincing lead performance, and also closely resembles the real Tenzing Norgay. Tom Hiddleston is good and endearing as Edmund Hillary. I enjoyed the dynamic between him and Tenzing. Willem Dafoe is great as the leader of the expedition, and Caitriona Balfe is also good in her scenes.

The direction from Jennifer Peedom is very strong. It turns out that she’s already directed a couple of documentaries about mountains, and that shows in her work on Tenzing. The cinematography is stunning, everything feels large scale and the landscapes and icy cliffs are impressive to watch. The mountain scenes felt very real, and the climbing sequences can be tense.

Tenzing is a conventional, but nonetheless engaging and very well made biopic, with stunning visuals and a great cast.