- Duration:
80'
- Genre:
PEOPLE,
LIFESTYLE
- Resolution: HD
- Year: 2014
On October
24, 1989, Jerzy Kukuczka fell to his death while climbing Lhotse. It was the
first time he went to the Himalayas with money, proper equipment and
international fame. The mysterious death of the climber is not the focus of
Paweł Wysoczański’s film though. Literally and metaphorically Jurek shows a man
getting to the top. Kukuczka was a socialist worker, a poor climber with
homemade equipment who rose to compete with Reinhold Messner in a rivalry to
climb the highest Himalayan peaks. The film contains interviews with family and
friends, archival recordings and TV shows, all of which make up for a portrait
of Polish climbing community in the 1980s. It also depicts the difficult, yet,
stimulating environment in Poland during the golden age of Polish climbing,
when idealism was valued more than fame.