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"Meru"

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U.S. Documentary

Unless you're a high-risk mountain climber, the astonishing documentary "Meru" is as close as you'll ever get to understanding the vertiginous experience of one of the world's most dangerous ascents. Climber and photographer Jimmy Chin and his filmmaker wife Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi direct this account of three mountain climbers — Chin, Conrad Anker and Renan Ozturk — attempting to scale the Shark's Fin route of Meru, a never-before completed climb in the Himalayas. The interviews with the climbers, their loved ones and some color commentary from author Jon Krakauer dive into the mindset of climbers who risk their lives attaining the impossible. But the reason to watch, and to watch on as big a screen as possible, is the footage (shot by Chin and Ozturk) of the breathtaking climbing action.

- Sean P. Means

"Meru" is screening in the U.S. Documentary competition of the 2015 Sundance Film Festival. It screens again: Saturday, 6:30 p.m., Redstone Cinema 1, Park City; Sunday, noon, Sundance Screening Room, Sundance resort; Tuesday, 6 p.m., Broadway Centre Cinema 6, Salt Lake City; Thursday, 8:30 a.m., Library Center Theatre, Park City; Saturday, Jan. 31, noon, Yarrow Hotel Theatre, Park City.