The Conqueror Of The Useless

Dec 23, 1966

0h 31m

★ 10.0

Overview

Biography of ski instructor, mountain guide, mountaineer and filmmaker-lecturer Lionel Terray. Film-portrait of an emblematic figure of French mountaineering in the 1950s and 1960s, reconstructing the life, the great races and the expeditions of the "conqueror" of the most difficult walls and summits of Europe, the Himalayas, the Andes and North America. Marcel Ichac produced in 1966, the day after the Gerbier accident, this illustrated tribute by bringing together personal archive documents, unpublished animated sequences or extracts from expedition images as well as comments taken from the autobiographical texts of Lionel Terray " The Conquerors of the Useless" and "Battle for Jannu". This film, presented at the Cannes Film Festival, has won numerous awards at specialized film festivals, including the Trente Festival and the Banff Festival.

Genres

Documentary

Production Companies

Filmartic

The Conqueror Of The Useless Trailers

No Trailers found.

Cast

Self

Lionel Terray

Self

Guido Magnone

Self

Louis Lachenal

Jean Franco

Self

Maurice Herzog

Self

Jacques Ertaud

Self

René Ferlet

Self

Suzanne Thiollière

Self

Marianne Terray

Self

Bill Dunaway

Mont Blanc, the highest peak in the Alps, rises to 4,810 m and was first climbed on August 8, 1786. Chamonix natives Jacques Balmat and Michel Paccard set out on the afternoon of August 7 and returned victorious on the morning of the 9th, after two nights spent outdoors. This film is a staging that reconstructs this great event with all the problems it created and resolved, thus contributing to the emergence of the modern concept of mountaineering. Denis Ducroz, guide and filmmaker, immerses us in the minds and times of these two men, 224 years later.

0.0

Hanuman Airlines: Fly Over Everest

Sep 18, 2011

Two Nepali men climb Mt. Everest, launch a paraglider from the summit, fly over the top and set a new free flight world record.

10.0

Matterhorn - The North Face In Winter

Aug 24, 1976

The first filmed winter ascent of the north face of the Matterhorn. To set the scene, the tragic story of Edward Whymper's first ascent is skillfully pieced together. The modern expedition, a team of three British climbers, is also plagued with epics: Eric Jones is hit by an avalanche and can only come to a dangerous stop at the edge of a 1000 foot drop. Then the worst storm ever recorded in Zermatt hits the Matterhorn. With time and weather against them, the team is forced to climb in the dark as thunderstorms rumble around them. This adventure captures the skill and courage of the climbers, their agony and tension, and the beauty of the assault on this spectacular mountain. Grand Prize at the Les Diablerets festival (Switzerland) in 1976.

8.8

Spirit of the Mountains

Apr 7, 2023

The charismatic Snow Leopard is the least understood of all the big cats and one of the most challenging to film. Over a period of five years, veteran Indian wildlife filmmakers, Naresh and Rajesh Bedi endured extreme cold and the thin air of the Himalayas in their daunting quest to reveal the secret lives of these elusive predators, ultimately with great success.

10.0

Maurice Baquet, The Accorded

Dec 2, 2023

At once a high-level musician, member of the October Group, entertainer, theater artist, film actor, mountaineer, and skier, Maurice Baquet, always on the move, structured his life around two common threads: the cello and the mountains. He once defined himself as a "cellist-skier," "all alone" in this category, which prompted James Couttet, world ski champion, to say: "Of all the skiers I know, he's the best cellist." Echoing this, Professor at the Conservatoire National Supérieur, André Navarra, added: "Of all the cellists I know, he's the best skier." Throughout his varied yet coherent career, Baquet helped to project a joyful and artistic image of the mountains. Who better to talk about Maurice and all his adventures than his alter-ego: Cérébos, the faithful cello that never left his side? From Paris to Chamonix, from the stage to the granite slabs and snowy slopes, this film follows Cérébos, crossing the century and above all... smiling!

8.7

Cervino - La montagna del mondo

Nov 5, 2015

No overview available.

7.2

Jurek

Oct 8, 2014

This documentary follows the feats of high-altitude climber Jerzy Kukuczka and his ascent to higher heights before his death in 1989.

10.0

Shakhaur 7116m, Face Nord

Jan 1, 1969

This film - without commentary and simply accompanied by local music - relates the 1969 ascent of the north face of Kohe Shakhawr, a Himalayan peak located on the border with Afghanistan, by mountaineers Benoît Mathieu, Jacques Soubis, René Thomas, Jean-Paul Paris, Isabelle Agresti, Henri Agresti, Roger Dietz, Jean-Pierre Frésafond, Paul Gendre, Claude Jager and Félix Magnin. As is often the case in Henri Agresti's films, there is an encounter with other peoples, other cultures, documented at length in the introduction. Then, after the interminable approach, the ascent begins: distribution of camps, successive assaults on the mountain, walking on steep scree and snowy slopes, climbing on icy walls... The arrival at the summit, without the aid of oxygen devices, seems to take place in slow motion: exhaustion mixes with the joy of the victorious mountaineers who will celebrate their success on their return to base camp on August 24, 1969.

8.3

Reel Rock 11

Sep 15, 2016

REEL ROCK cranks it up to 11 with our latest collection of electrifying climbing films showcasing the sport's biggest stories and athletes. Featuring Ashima Shiraishi, Will Stanhope, Matt Segal, Brette Harrington, Kai Lightner, Mike Libecki and the Wild Bunch.

0.0

Appearances

Jul 1, 2023

An atmospheric and dreamy picture poem from Argentina's vast La Pampa region, where ancient stories of spirits are evoked in dark and evocative images between reality and the beyond.

10.0

Denali's Wife

Jan 1, 1977

The film of the first ascent of Mont Foraker (5,304 m) in the Denali chain in Alaska, by the southeast ridge of independence in 1976, which remains years after an unequaled sporting and human adventure. The 7 members of the expedition, Henri Agresti, Jean-Paul Bouquier, Jean-Marie Galmiche, Werner Landry, Gérard Creton, Isabelle Agresti, Hervé Thivierge, all came to the top after thirty days of climbing in conditions still limits. Breathtaking images where the grandiose views of the icy desert and the scenes of daily life alternate on a most rough mountains on the planet. The film received the Gentiane d'Or Festival prizes from Thirty 1977, Public Prize Festival des Diablerets 1977, SFP Festival de la Plagne in 1977.

0.0

The Holy Mountain

Jan 1, 2018

No overview available.

No Image Available

0.0

National Geographic - Everest, Una Sfida Lunga 50 Anni

May 6, 2003

In 1953, Sir Edmund Hillary & Tenzing Norgay made history as the first people to reach the top of Everest. Now, 50 years later, three sons of Everest's most celebrated climbers return to the mountain to challenge it again. Join their journey as they brave the elements and face death to climb 29,000 feet of wind-blasted rock and ice. And, relive the dramatic history of Everest from great triumphs to deadly tragedies, enduring rivalries and the unsung role of the Sherpa people—as National Geographic exposes the untold stories that lurk in the mountain's epic shadow and takes you on the ultimate Everest experience.

10.0

Aconcagua

Jan 1, 1991

History of the first ascent of Aconcagua by the south face in February 1954 by the French shock team led by René Ferlet and composed of Lucien Bérardini, Adrien Dagory, Edmond Denis, Pierre Lesueur, Robert Paragot and Guy Poulet. In seven days of combat, they extricate themselves from the mountain in a pitiful state; all except Robert Paragot will be victims of severe frostbite which earned them amputations, some important as for “Lulu” Bérardini who lost part of his left hand.

8.2

Light

Feb 1, 2021

Documentary about eating disorders among professional climbers

10.0

Masters of Stone VI - Breakthrough

Apr 13, 2009

Once again, Masters of Stone breaks through to the cutting edge of the sport. Harder, Faster, Bolder, Newer, and more...six points of breakthrough in all.... where human edges toward the superhuman. This is the Super Bowl, Olympics, and Boston Marathon of rock climbing, all rolled into one. More than any other sport, rock climbing continually redefines its rules and resets its limits. Yesterday's impossible becomes today's warm-up as advances in mental and physical mastery combine to break new ground. Every few years the Masters of Stone series delivers a new episode that captures these breakthroughs in a tasty mix of music, character, commentary, and above all, visual action.

10.0

Metamorfosi

Jan 1, 1987

Metamorfosi is a veritable dance ballet on the rocks, performed by a great climber, Patrick Berhault, set on the picturesque French Riviera and the Lingurian coast. Berhault's movements, in the sea, in caves, on rocks and precipices, are extremely difficult but are above all executed to give the movement an aesthetic value. Matemorfosi is the story of a cycle without words, told with gestures and music. Climber Monica Dalmasso also participates in the film.