The top of the gods: a hell of a challenge for Patrick Imbert (critic)

Before Inoxtag and Kaizen’s great success, there was this very beautiful animated film on mountain explorers. He returns this weekend on television.

In Kathmandu, the Japanese reporter Fukamachi believes to recognize Habu Jôji, this mountaineer who had been thought about for years. He seems to hold a camera in his hands that could change the history of mountaineering. What if George Mallory and Andrew Irvine were the first men to reach the summit of Everest on June 8, 1924? Only the little Kodak Vest Pocket with which they had to photograph themselves on the roof of the world could deliver the truth. 70 years later, to try to solve this mystery, Fukamachi embarks on the traces of Habu. He discovered a world of passionate enthusiasts of impossible conquests and decides to accompany him until the ultimate journey towards the top of the gods.

Released in September 2021 in the cinema, The top of the gods had impressed First. By its scriptwriting brilliance, this film condensing a manga of 1000 pages in just 1:30, but also by its animation, the director Patrick Imbertalready behind Ernest and Célestine Or The big bad foxhaving been overwhelmed to give life to this very ambitious project.

From start to finish, the big bad fox overflows with good ideas

Good news, he returns this Saturday evening to France 4, as well as replay on the France.TV site. Here is our criticism.

Fukamachi, Japanese photographer, Habu investigation, a fallen legend of Japanese mountaineering that has a camera from the 20s perhaps containing the secret of the Everest conquest. But Habu also has his share of dark secrets … Adapting the abundant and fascinating Alpin manga of Jirō Taniguchi in film was a hell of a challenge, both visually and narratively: the director Patrick Imbertknown to adapt to the line of the original works (Ernest and Célestine,, The big bad fox), intelligently moves away from the author’s line (and the density of the story) to give in the sober purity. A kind of clear line version of the original comic, which seeks less the feeling of vertigo than that of pure tension. And in the end, it’s very impressive.

Kaizen, of staxtag, already on television