A Journey of Survival and Connection in The Mountain Between Us
The movie, the Mountain Between Us shares the plight of two unknown individuals, Alex and Ben who through a plane crash find themselves stranded in a snow capped mountain. Having been stranded in the middle of the wilderness with seeming few ways out they have no option than to stick to each other to survive as they set off on the search for help. Especially as they overcome physical and emotional challenges of the Alaskan wilderness, the strangers turn into close friends; the survival is as much about endurance as about understanding others and the value of relationships. While the action is everything but cliched, the tone is quite melodramatic, with suspense and drama as the two constants; there is hardly aProjects: subtle mention of danger lurking in the wilderness that adds to the characters’ dramatic intensity. The movie gives the audience the different ways in which extraordinary situations touch individual lives and bring out hidden potentials. It describes the continuous cycle of the shrewd grace and danger in the world of nature, the worst and the hugest in the snowy mountains. Winslet stunning in her role of a free-willed and an energetic photojournalist Job and Elba stupendous as a reserved and sensitive neurosurgeon Marcus. Obviously, Ed and Anabel share the chemistry on the show, which grows organically as the show develops. The rest of the supporting actors, such as Beau Bridges in an all too short dramatic turn, work well, and give fine, detailed performances to support the love story but all attention is firmly directed to our two leads.
Amidst high-stake, thrilling romance and intense communication of the wilderness, Hany Abu-Assad has much successfully captured both the expansiveness of the wilderness as well as the intimacy of characters. His vision is obvious in how the isolation of the mountain differs from the emerging connection shared between the characters. Using two of the main characters as navigators also enriches the existence of their story and increases the audience’s concern about their subsequent destinies.
The music of Ramin Djawadi also forms an important addition to the movie, enhancing the degree of excitement as well as providing a backstory. The orchestral and minimalist theme interplay with the sound perfectly complements the episodic darkness, suspense, and soaring calmness that sets an ambient mood while underlining the evocative scenes.
The cinematography captures pure glamour in the snowy environments. Every shot is staged to both showcase the exquisite wilderness of a given locale and the lonely landscape. It enriches the story with visual images that play with the audience’s emotions and the camera work emphasizes the loneliness of the characters while maintaining the element of hope that keeps Alex and Ben going.
The depiction of the scenery is raw and rather unpleasant which fits the story as both Alex and Ben have to go through rough terrains. High level of practical elements has been used in the film but special effects are effective during plane crash sequences to depict sadistic disorder and elongated survivance in the plane wreckage. Each of the effects is quite integrated thus enhancing rather than distracting the narrative.
The pacing is very good in that it captures the attention of the viewer while at the same time maintaining the tension; there are intense sequences and reflective scenes. These transistions make the story more realistic and make the potential and evolution of the characters’ relation feel natural.
The pacing of the film is not constant but I think that actually it mirrors the reality of the survival. Some viewers may probably consider some sequences as boring but these are in fact scenes where the characters must stop and think. Again, the pacing helps the story as it keeps threat level high but does not skimp on empathy.
The conversation of Alex and Ben feels realistic, and their transition from two random people to two friends is shown very well. It aims and reaches from stressed, imperative, business-like because of time-constraint dialogues to deeper, opening and understanding dialogues that contribute to the movie an extra dimension, a new layer, to their developing relationship.
Subsequently, however, the film occasionally tends to rely on clichés, conventional for the survival genre, which might reduce the individuality of the movie. Of course, some of the recipients will be able to predict some events in detail, and there are not many plot twists. Also, character interaction sometimes displaces the concept of survival, and thus, the movie might be less tense for some viewers.
The Mountain Between Us is a visually engaging and intense drama of love and survival. Audiences are entranced by this story because one sees the potential of people to persist and recognize their universal bonds amid harsh tests of nature. Despite its imperfections the cast amazing and scenery breath taking which gave a great experience of the movie.
