Summit of the Gods (Le sommet des dieux)

  Makoto Fukamachi (Damien Boisseau) is a Japanese photojournalist drinking away his frustration as the team whose Everest ascent he was documenting turned back before they could reach the top. When a shifty characer approaches him to offer him a camera belonging to one George Mallory, who had attempted to conquer the mountain back in 1924, Fukamachi turns him away. But his interest is piqued, and he follows the man out.

 Before he can approach him again the camera is taken by another man, who in turn slinks away into the shadows. The surprised Fukamachi recognizes him: Habu Joji (Éric Herson-Macarel), a once up-and-coming fellow Japanese climber who disappeared years ago without a trace.

 Back in Japan Fukumachi starts investigating Habu, rebuilding the man's life through archival data and interviews with old acquaintances. His work eventually pays off, leading back to Nepal and an unexpected attempt to help Habu complete some important unfinished business.

 Summit of the Gods is a quiet, contemplative French animated character study based on a Manga of the same name by Jirô Taniguchi (which is in turn an based on a novel by Baku Yumemakura). Director Patrick Imbert and his crew have carefully shepherded the adaptation to the screen; The art is beautiful, with crisp, clear lines, sharp colours and gorgeous backdrops (expect lots of tiny figures framed against giant rock formations). The traditional, 2D animation is detailed but oddly muted, always aiming for realism and not expressivity. Everything is rounded off by a gorgeous soundtrack courtesy of Amine Bouhafa.

 The film's script (by the director, Magali Pouzol and Jean-Charles Ostorero) is built around two well-written characters (both fictional, although Mallory did exist). Their story is relatively simple but beautifully told thanks to an elegant structure that patiently paints a picture of Habu from Fukamachi's investigations. The two timelines interweave and fold together seamlessly to coalesce into an examination of why people like Habu gamble their life over and over again for the sake of a new, highly-specific record. No conclusions are reached, of course - but whenever Habu conquers some difficult challenge (the specifics of which are painstakingly drawn and animated) or reaches a summit, you can almost see the appeal.