This Mountain Life
Directed By: Grant Baldwin
This Mountain Life is a 2018 documentary from Grant Baldwin that is streaming on Prime Video right now. I heard about this film recently. It was another mountain documentary, a genre in which I am well versed. I filed this knowledge away and figured I might get to it someday.
Perhaps it was the fact that I’ve spent the last three weekend in the Mountains, or the brisk 1 hour and 16 minute runtime, but This Mountain Life hoped to the front of the viewing queue.
The main thread of the documentary follows the story of a mother and daughter who decide to take a six month ski tour through the Canadian Rockies from Squamish to Alaska. Interspersed are five vignettes centered around people who have found some level of solace in the mountains.
The documentary begins in the stark white of the mountains. A solitary figure trudges through the snow. He is a snow artist tracing out some grand design on the side of the mountain. As a character he doesn’t exist. We learn nothing about him, other than a few passing mentions of a wasted life before. He finishes and we zoom back on the wings of a drone to view his creation.
Now we meet the mother and daughter on whom the documentary hinges. Little is revealed about their motivations for embarking on such a dangerous and extreme trek. The genesis of the whole endeavor seems to be an awkward phone call between mother and daughter, involving an invite and a yes.
This documentary started with vague character definition and motivation. It felt overly filled with basic drone shots, hovering over characters or floating through the mountains. I was somewhat bored and could feel the smallness of the film. Usually this isn’t a problem for me and I like to give smaller productions a chance. The smallness didn’t reflect the quality of the photography or filming, more the scope of the project.
Despite my misgivings on the depth of character, the cinematography of this documentary was spellbinding and only seemed to improve beyond the opening sequences. Through this stunning photography the true purpose of the documentary comes to light, the beauty of the mountains. The natural landscape and Baldwin’s ability to frame a shot truly shine. An incredible dissolve from summer to winter was one of the absolute highlights.
The women continue to trek through the wilderness and we slowly meet some of these others who live the mountain life. There is an ice climber passionate about the mountains. There are the survivors of a harrowing avalanche, a group of nuns seeking god in the high places, a man and his wife living off the grid for decades.
Each vingette has its charms, but it is never really about the people. It’s about their experience. Though varied, with different purposes, they remain pointed towards the same thing. It’s a peace, a magic, that can only transpire in the wild places where the barriers between man and the world are thin. It’s a paean to the mountains.
The end of the nuns story contains true beauty. She skis across the bleak white beauty of the landscape and sits in the chapel as the light fades behind the peaks. Chorus music accompanies these breathtaking images. And we float up into the mountains at dusk, gliding across the great expanses.
“The mountains have really changed my prayer.”
The mother and daughter continue the trek, facing icy cold rivers, treacherous climbs, freezing temperatures, and lost food drops. We see them briefly as they continue to plow through the wilderness with a quiet resolve. We learn about the mother’s pregnant flight from behind the Iron Curtain to the safety of the West. It’s the deepest the subjects or the documentarian is willing to traverse.
“There’s something about being in the mountains that just feels like home.”
In the end I succumbed to the subtle charms of this documentary. It’s not a story, but a meditation.
Musical Pairing: Long Lost, Lord Huron