Gasherbrum - der Leuchtende Berg

In this TV documentary, Werner Herzog follows the German mountaineer Reinhold Messner during part of his climb of the two peaks of the Gasherbrum, 8611 and 8086 metres high, in the Himalaya Mountains. Messner has scaled many mountain walls and glaciers - in the process, he lost his brother and six toes - but he keeps coming back to the snowstorms and avalanches. Messner himself calls this activity pointless, a degeneration of our society; mountain people would never think of climbing a mountain without reason. This makes Messner an ideal subject for Herzog: an obsessive man who carries out useless plans under extreme conditions. But perhaps this ascent is the finale of his career, Messner says, and after it he may only walk and walk until the world (i.e. life) stops. In Messner, Herzog appears to have found a kindred spirit, for he would also love to traverse the globe on foot, only accompanied by a husky.