Touching the Void
Posted by Chris Beaumont (chrisbeaumont@filmschoolrejects.com) on October 2, 2006
Release Year: 2003
I’m not sure that I’ve seen a film that was so great, yet so uninvolving until the final minutes. For those not familiar with this film, it is a recreation of Joe Simpson and Simon Yates’, two friends from Britain, ascent and descent of the mountain Siula Grande in the Andes of Peru back in 1985. It features Joe and Simon, as well as Richard Hawking, who watched over their base camp, tell their tale, while the action is recreated with doubles.
The story itself is hard to describe without giving away spoilers. But the fact that the film was made indicates that something happened on this climb, and the fact that both Simon and Joe are telling the story indicates that both of them survived whatever ordeal they encountered. To give a few details, my impression going into the movie was that it was the climb that was going to be the treacherous portion, boy, was I wrong. The climb went smoothly. The descent was the problem. I really don’t want to give away the details of the ordeal, as they are better experienced as they occur in the film. It is an amazing tale of survival and will.
The cinematography is beautiful. I believe the majority of it was shot on location in Peru. The shots going through the snow covered mountains, watching the climbers navigate the snow drifts and icicles. It really is a site to behold, it’s a shame that the theater’s projection left a lot to be desired, but that’s another story (Look for it!). Tale is harrowing, a real life horror story. This may make you wonder what I didn’t like about it, huh? No? Well let me tell you anyway.
Well, the narration left me a bit cold (no pun intended). There was very little life to much of there talking. It seems as if they were filmed separately and I did not get any real sense of friendship or camaraderie between the two. Unless the happenings on the mountain pushed them away, which could be the case. Anyway, it left me wanting, it kept me at an emotional distance which hindered my involvement in the film. It was not until the last 15-20 minutes of the film that it started to affect me emotionally. The other problem, much more minor one at that, was Richard Hawking, he said everything with this big goofy grin that made it hard to take seriously. He was saying things about the climbers being dead, and who he would hope would come back if only was to survive. It just came off as a little off-putting. These problems by no means make it a bad movie, just one you may or may not get to personally involved in, there is no denying that the story is incredible nor that it is not an excellent movie, it is.
In the end, it did not live up to the hype I had built up around it, but still turned out to be a fine film. The style was strange too, watching actors recreate the events. It is not your typical documentary feature, but it doesn’t really fit in the drama or suspense genre’s. I have no problems recommending this movie if you are at all interested in climbing, or just want to see an amazing story on the screen.
The Upside: The ordeal they endured is painstakingly recreated on film.
The Downside: The narration was flat and not terribly involving.
On the Side: Some of the long distance shots of Simon and Joe climbing the mountain are played not by the lead actors, but by body doubles, who were Simon Yates and Joe Simpson themselves.
Final Grade: B
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