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Touching the Void | Classification: Documentary Directed: - Kevin Macdonald Actors/Actresses: - Joe Simpson (II) - Nicholas Aaron - Brendan Mackey - Simon Yates Very intense docudrama This has to be one of the most intense docudrama I ever seen on screen or anyplace else. The docudrama was based on the book by Joe Simpson about his experiences on the Andes peak of 21,000 feet where he and his partner planned to conquer and did. The trouble came when they were coming down and Simpson broke his right leg in pieces. His partner was partially successful in getting him down the mountain until they ran into a point of no return thanks to an overhang. His partner, Simon Yates, who was in endangered of being pull down with his danging partner, decided to cut the rope to save himself - act that amazingly cost him much reputation as well as a sense of personal guilt. However, Simpson survived the fall and managed to get back to the basecamp, doing it nothing but sheer will power and undying desire to live. It was surreal watching this movie because you are often left during several points of the film how these guys were narrating this story when they should be dead. At least in many of the Simpson's scenes, I felt that way. Yates and Simpson narrated the movie while it was being "reenacted" at the actual terrain and mountain. According to Simpson's book, he thought that the movie was very accurate to his book. Its also Simpson's credit that he defended his partner's actions very strongly. Very interesting movie....for people who like to see the movie instead of reading the book, this is a perfect example where that might not be a bad idea. I did both, read the book and saw the movie. I got hit twice by Simpson's amazing story of survival and it never fell to awe me. Harrowing Just to Watch My son and I came out of the theater exhausted just by watching this quasi-documentary reenactment of the 1985 ascent up an unclimbed route on the Siula Grande glacier in Peru. The film's impact is heightened by the excellent cutting between the actor/climbers and Simon Yates and Joe Simpson, who recall their actions, reactions, and feelings nearly 20 years later. Disaster strikes on the descent, where -- as one of them notes -- "80 percent of accidents happen." After Simpson breaks his leg in a fall, Yates -- against impossible odds -- continues to try and get him down. Finally, Simpson falls again, off the edge of the mountain. After hours of hanging on to what feels like dead weight, Yates cuts the rope to prevent himself from being gradually pulled into the void. Simpson's survival and return to base camp is nothing short of miraculous, suggesting that man is never more tenacious about life than when he is closest to losing it. Though far different in its circumstances, his story rivals that of Shackleton and the Endurance in Antartica three quarters of a century before. An underlying issue, addressed briefly in the film, is whether Yates should have cut the rope. Apparently some other climbers criticized him for doing so, but Simpson always defended his action. I have no idea how well the technical aspects of Touching the Void are done, but to this mostly earthboard amateur, they looked brilliantly and truly shot. Danger and beauty are scarcely separable in Touching the Void. When you are not immersed in the terror of Yates' and, especially, Simpson's plight, the frigid beauty of the glacier, the colors within its crevasses are glorious. A story of recklessness and great determination, superbly told, filled with many "how did they ever shoot that?" moments, Touching the Void must be seen. The Triumph of the Human Spirit "Touching the Void" is a partly re-enacted documentary of a climb of the western face of the Siula Grande in Peru in 1985. The details of the climb make for a fine and gripping film. The brief details of the climb of Joe Simpson and Simon Yates is that their ascent is relatively straight forward despite the mountain being more technically difficult than they had expected. It on the descent that problems really began. Firstly and, obviously, critically, Simpson slipped on an ice ledge and smashed right leg. The only piece of good fortune being that no bone penetrated the skin. It was thus left to Yates to assist his partner to the base camp. At this point, matters deteriorated further when Yates was forced to cut their connecting rope when Simpson had fallen over a cliff and was in danger of dragging his partner with him. Yates then proceeded to climb down having realistically left Simpson for dead. However, by a combination of luck and supreme courage, Simpson too made the descent but in a truly battered state. He had, for example, lost one third of his body weight! Upon the climbers return to their native England, Yates was apparently criticised for cutting Yates loose. Simpson never joined this criticism but only praised Yates for his efforts. The film is a re-enactment of the heroism of the two climbers. It outlines to all that mountain climbing is a dangerous past time that only the foolish and/or the brave can contemplate. The film should be seen by all if only for the wonderful telling of a story of heroism within a vast, magnificent and unforgiving landscape. Buy Touching The Void at Amazon.com Buy posters at Allposters.com Jamster - the latest ringtones for your phone!  Search with Walhello on the Internet on Touching The Void Search with the Priority Search Engine on Touching The Void This page in other languages: Suomeksi | Nederlands | Deutsch
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