Touching the Void
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Movie Reviews of Touching the Void
Movie Review: A Visual Masterpiece & A Tale of Hard Survival
Summary: 5 Stars
Let's start with the comment that this movie is visually stunning. One could turn off the audio and be dazzled by the sheer brillance of the videography. However, if one did that, they would miss one of the best tales of true survival EVER placed on the big screen. The book details the events more clearly, but there is no lack of drama, suspense, passion or emotion in the feature film. In the same league with "Into Thin Air" (the book), this film is an ABSOLUTE MUST for ANY mountaineer, climber, or adventure traveler.Movie Review: Gripping
Summary: 3 Stars
This movie is a docutainment (documentary and entertainment combined). It is based upon the true tale of two mountaineers who did the unthinkable in 1985 and changed their lives dramatically. Even better, they live to tell the tale. This movie is close to two hours in length and something which I think should be appreciated on the big screen. So as to depict the event and to give credibility to the story, the Director invited the two mountaineers and one of their mate (who was looking after the base camp) back to Peru where it all began. Interviews were granted (some of them did open a can of worms and bringing those unpleasant memory back especially Joel, the person who was at the receiving end when his partner, Simon cut the rope where he couldn't communicate with Joel and that he was in a dire strait situation himself. Simon lived through the ordeal with his chin up despite copping a lot of flakes from other mountaineers for cutting the rope. Anyway, Joel was defending him staunchly over the years. From the extra features in DVD, you could sense that all of them did what they needed to do to stay alive and there's no bad blood between them. Moreoever, it brought to the fore that despite they are never the best of friends, in mountaineering, mountaineers need to depend on one another for survival. Certain moments were indeed scary amid the hauntingly beautiful backdrop. However, the best has yet to come because the DVD shows us a glimpse of what about AFTER the ordeal, of what faced them when they were trying to get to the main city for medical help. Quite outstanding and something that shouldn't be missed. A movie that truly justifies triumph of the human spiritMovie Review: Fantastic
Summary: 5 Stars
I read Joe Simpson's book a few years back and wasn't impressed. The impression that I got was that two young guys went up into the mountains, made some poor decisions and then were very proud of themselves after the fact. It seemed similar to Beck Weather's Left For Dead and Aaron Ralston's Between a Rock and a Hard Place in this respect.
In the film however, it is clear that neither climber was proud of what happened and that to this day they are still carrying heavy emotional baggage because of it. In my mind, the film was an ecellent showcase of human determination and emotion.
While watchin the film I had to laugh a couple of times at the absolute absurdity of the hardships endured by Simpson. If this was a fictional story I would have turned it off because it was too far fetched. However this is a true story. I can't even begin to imagine what was going on in Simpson's head as he was making his way back down the mountain after being presumed dead by his friend. I am in complete amazement.
I really liked how the reenactment was broken up with clips from interviews. It kept the film moving along at a good pace.
Movie Review: Don't Avoid "Touching the Void"!
Summary: 5 Stars
I loved reading "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer, and I hear that Joe Simpson's book about this Peruvian adventure is excellent as well. Having said that, this documentary movie is a can't miss! If you think you face obstacles in your day job, then you'll appreciate the remarkable courage and perseverance used by these climbers in facing some extreme, unbelievable challenges.Movie Review: Beyond the Beyond
Summary: 5 Stars
Picture Hell
Picture hell with your minds eye. Then picture yourself placed squarely within the depths of the devil's lair. Imagine the worst fear you have ever felt and couple this with the most painful experience you've ever been privy to.
Multiply that by 1000 and you still don't have an estimation of what the men in this story went through!
The Extremes
Joey Simpson and Simon Yates are the only men to ever successfully climb Mt. Siula Grande. Their feat has never been repeated. While watching this movie I realized why this is so. The terrain they chose to traverse is so hostile towards anything human that one wonders how they could even conceive to undertake the challenge.
2 men, minimal supplies, no backup, no support, no GPS tracking, no modern technology. This is how they chose to tackle the mountain. They did this in what seems to me, a bold and stoic stance in front of God while shouting:
Here I am, I am ready to vindicate my existence!
This, in my mind, is the greatest vindication of one's existence: To go against nature with no hope of survival, to stare certain death in the face, to encounter madness and still survive to tell the story.
Purists
The first 15 minutes of the movie is all about how they make it up the mountain. They chose to use the single push Alpine style of mountain climbing. In this style one does not scout the mountain and set up various camps and supply points throughout the proposed route. In this style, you carry all your supplies in your backpack and, in one powerful push, you climb up and down the mountain. It is, to quote Joe, the purest form of mountain climbing.
Saving My Brother
The descent, during which 80% of mountain climbing accidents occur, proved more perilous than the ascent. It is during the descent that Joe slipped and got injured, a fate which, under such conditions, is indicative of certain death for both climbers. The impact of his fall was so great as to almost split his leg in half!
It is here that Sam proved to be an exceptional human being. Instead of abandoning his colleague, as he was expected to, he attempts to get his partner to safety by lowering him down in 300 foot drops using a lengthy rope.
The situation quickly deteriorates and one accident follows another. Not only do they run out of gas and therefore water, but they also run out of any other supplies. At that point, the worst possible accident happens and Joe falls over a cliff edge and into a chasm.
The transformation
Great adversity often causes a change in a man. This psycho-emotional change is often marked by dramatic physical changes (as I've described before).
Sam assumes that his colleague is dead and cuts the rope that joins them. When he does make it to the basecamp, their travel mate notes the following:
You wouldn't recognize him.... He didn't look human....
In the meantime, Joe undergoes a trip to the very nadir of depression and back to the zenith of superhumanity. He gives up trying to climb out of the crevasse. He gives up waiting for benevolent help. He decides to do the impossible: He descends into the bottomless crevasse. This is the self same crevasse that he described thus:
....I tried to use my torch to look into the crevasse. It went down forever.... The darkness just completely swallowed the light...
When he eventually does make it out of the crevasse he finds that he has an entire glacier to traverse. The situation is exacerbate by the powder snow which completely covers the tracks left by his companion. He suffers from severe dehydration. The glacier is marked by snow patches that cover crevasses. One false step and you are guaranteed a certain and swift death.
The Guardian Angel Within
4 days later, crawling along on one leg, he makes it to the moraine which is covered with boulders. Every hop he makes there after results in him falling and injuring himself on the boulders. Yet, somehow, he makes it across and to the basecamp. Here's how he describes it:
...I set goals.. I decided to make it to the next boulder in 20 minutes.... It became obsessive...If I made it in less than 20 minutes I was overjoyed....If I took longer I would get mad at myself...
Later, he starts going mad. He hears voices and the pain becomes excruciating. He finds comfort in the warmth of wetting himself. He loses all human dignity. Even then, he talks of the calm, unfeeling, hard voice of infinity that urges him on;
...The voice would tell me to get up.."No time to rest, no time to nurse the pain".... The voice wasn't mine...My mind would just observe and take everything in... The voice would force me to move...
I Rescued Myself
Eventually, he makes it to the basecamp. He shouts Sam's name continuously. When their travel mate hears it he thinks the following:
...I could hear Joe's voice call out to Sam.... But that couldn't be because Joe was dead...And if he wasn't then whatever was out there could not be human...Having gone through what he had gone through, the creature that was out there could not be Joe, It couldn't be human
Summary
Challenging death in such a manner is the ultimate vindication of one's existence. To face God and come out a victor and an equal is the ultimate proof that we are made in his image. There's no luck involved in this ordeal. There is only heart.
Touching the Void is an excellent, priceless and timeless story. I urge everyone to read the book and watch the movie. It is guaranteed to leave tears in your eyes.
I'm going to buy both the book and the DVD. You should too. Trust me, it's worth it.