My Everest
Carl Woods’ unique documentary charts the journey of a man with cerebral palsy riding out to the Everest base camp.
This film about Max Stainton-Parfitt starts with the man’s voice on the soundtrack. He describes himself as disabled but also refers to his determination to ride up to the Everest Base Camp. Always marked out as different, Max’s condition would come to be diagnosed as cerebral palsy and he readily accepts that many would regard this journey on horseback lasting some eight days as a mad undertaking for someone who would be imposing severe strain on himself. Nevertheless, just because such a venture would be beyond what most people would expect of a man like himself, he was determined to prove them wrong. My Everest, a film by Carl Woods, is a detailed study of how Max set out on this mission accompanied by his partner Candy, a number of friends and Chris Little of ‘Adventure Alternative’ which gave him support after he had prepared a fundraising video entitled ‘Riding Everest’.
The first quarter of an hour of My Everest also introduces us to Max’s mother, Martha, who has pictures of his childhood and we learn that Max was only five years old when he first took an interest in riding a horse. Martha declares that Max would always do what he set out to do and his determination may echo that of his mother who had pursued the very best advice for Max following the diagnosis of cerebral palsy in 1993. However that may be, Max's attitude to his foolhardy enterprise is epitomised by his broader attitude to his health issues: "No barriers, only horizons”.
Late on in the film there are one or two flashbacks to earlier times, but for the most part the film follows Max's ride stage by stage, reveals how on occasion narrow paths forced him to walk and portrays hazards en route which threatened to scuttle the plan. All of this is very competently handled by Woods who is the photographer as well as the director and the vistas along the way are particularly well judged being impressive but not overindulged. There have, of course, been very many other documentaries concerned with mountains such as Everest, but this one stands apart due to the subject of disability playing such a crucial role. As a critic, it is my function to report that My Everest is a very competent film, but how viewers will respond to the material may well vary and that is a matter for them as individuals.
In making that point, I have it in mind that the bravery of Max Stainton-Parfitt is remarkable and, because of that, many will see him as a hero. On the other hand, as we follow him on his hazardous way, we cannot but be aware that we are watching a man suffer because of the demands he was making on his body. Furthermore, his devoted partner, Candy, is undoubtedly being imposed upon as she shares in his adventure. Nevertheless, with Max himself credited as an executive producer, one expects the film to adopt a very positive attitude to his expedition which also had a fundraising aspect on behalf of the charity Riding for the Disabled (this being somewhat undersold in the film) In the closing moments, however, we discover that Max has been scarred physically by the trip and he unexpectedly reassesses what Candy describes as his macho bravado and becomes critical of what he has done. He now turns against the idea of basing one's own worth on other people’s expectations and stresses instead the need to believe in yourself. This is certainly honest but, coming close to a volte face, it may be welcomed by some audiences while leaving others taken aback.
MANSEL STIMPSON
Featuring Max Stainton-Parfitt, Candy Stainton-Parfitt, Martha Stainton, Oscar Stainton, Andrea Shipley, Giles Newton, Livi Shaw, Karen Arnold, Chris Little, Adam Gardner, Ang Chhongba Sherpa, Lhakpa Sherpa, Karma Sherpa.
Dir Carl Woods, Pro Annika Ranin, Carl Woods, Jasmin Morrison and Sandra Spethmann, Screenplay Carl Woods, Ph Carl Woods, Ed Parch Mokashi and Carl Woods, Music Rik van den Heuvel.
Zedmill and Unmannered/Feral Youth Productions-Bohemia Media.
86 mins. UK. 2023. UK Rel: 27 April 2023. Cert. 12A.
