Books, Movies, Music & Entertainment - Touching the Void

Stop whatever you are doing and go see it, go on now.

Bump.

Ok anyone see it yet? Here's alink to the trailer, at least watch that.
http://www.touchingthevoid.co.uk/

I saw the trailer the other day, before Triplets of Belleville (see thread below). It starts out as if it's going to be a documentary about a mountain climbing expidition gone wrong (no shortage of those in recent years), but it's clearly a drama. Is it based on a true story? The trailer certainly didn't give much away, which is pretty good these days.

I don't think this film is in wide release just yet, and seeing as I saw the trailer at an arthouse theater, I suspect that is the type of theater it is headed to when it is released. What is it about this film that has so enthralled you? Great story? Spectacular mountain cinematography (if that's your bag, seek out the dvd of Himalaya at your local video shop)? Acting? Writing? Stunts? You gotta give us something to chew on before we'll bite...

In June, 1985, British mountain climbers Joe Simpson, 21 and Simon Yates, 25 became the first and only people ever to make their way up to the top of the 21,000 foot Siula Grande peak in the Peruvian Andes via the mountain's nearly 90 degree west face. This true story is composed of a reinactment of the journey which is narrated by Joe and Simon themselves. It is beyond belief, there is a broken leg, a quick trip to the bottom of a crevasse, some hallucination, and much much more. Get a large beverage of your choice for this one. If you are skeptical watch an audiance leaving this show, they will be silent.

If you think you are a toughguy, go see this movie and reevaluate.

Thanks temp. imdb says this movie opened in NYC just this past Friday, so I suspect it will take a couple of weeks to reach my neck of the woods. I'm always amazed by the logistical and technical challenges of mountain movies. The aforementioned dvd of Himalaya has a great Making Of featurette that documents many of that production's considerable hardships.

I love mountain movies, I'll check out Himalaya.
What happens on the screen in this movie is so engrossing that it leaves you no time or energy really to think about how they filmed it, it is an experience you have to see to, it is beyond me to describe it.

I wish it was playing in my area. I may have to wait for the DVD.

I have a feeling once it catches on it will be in mainstream theaters, like Blair Witch and El Mariachi

Oh yeah, its also a book which I plan to read and should be available everywhere. If not:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0060730552/qid=1075092162/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/104-1984630-9188757?v=glance&s=books

hmm...

well i hadn't heard they were making a movie...

but the book is one of the best i have ever read --- it is short and once you pick it up your life is on hold until you finish (i have experienced that maybe 10 times in my life).

in addition to being a cylist/skier/snowboarder, i am also a climber (attempted Ranier and Mt Blanc for example)... so for me it is a great subject.

well, again, no idea about the movie, but i recomment the book to EVERYONE. even if you are not a climber it is still a good read (i actually got the book while i was backpacking in Southeast Asia in 2000 and a friend gave it to me -- while travelling it is common to give/exchange things like books as you don't want to carry it with you, but you want to put it to good use and not throw it in the trash)

hopefully the movie doesn't try and "hype" it up or anything --- the incident itself was dramatic and thrilling enough! for a similar story, check out the story of the 2 teenagers who got stranded on the Eiger North Wall for like 5 days in a blizzard -- forgot the names, but the documentary film is great!!

hopefully the movie doesn't try and "hype" it up or anything[QUOTE]

Its odd I can't imagine the book being anywhere as good as the movie, which I am sure it is, this is the kind of film that makes you realize how powerful and vital movies are as a kind of media

I've read the book before and enjoyed it a lot, you get that feeling of "what ifs" because his and his climbing partner's ordeal is a crux of what mountaineering is about. It's not always about enjoying the mountains and being "out there". There are situations where you cannot always save your partner(s) and it becomes a life changing decision, to leave or stay and perish. The story of Joe Simpson's attempt at self-rescue is amazing the fact that his partner was so-close to leaving base-camp, it is amazing that when Simpson finally crawled out of the crevasse, that his partner somehow decided to stay there one more day.

Excellent read and if the movie is anything as good as the book, it should be a must see.

Another great book I've read while in Denali was Minus 148°
by Art Davidson, about the first winter ascent of Denali.

Oh, I'd also recommend "Eiger Dreams" by Jon Krakauer. Always famous for his account of the Everest'96 tragedy, Eiger Dreams is a good read too.


Jay

In the same vein, one of the best survival stories ever is Shackleton's expedition to the Antarctic- when I first read the book (by ALfred Lansing, but there are others, including one by Shackelton himself called "South") I couldn't believe it is a true story.
What those guys went through, their boat frozen into the ice for a whole Antarctic winter, then breaking up so they had to jump from iceflow to iceflow, then sail to an island 800 miles away in a dingy... incredible. There is also a movie with Kenneth Branagh, but so far the written accounts are much better.
Check it out - you will be amazed.

I saw an advance screening in DC three weeks ago. This movie is really incredible. Not only is the story mind-blowing, they have taken a really novel approach to documentary making...reenactment with production values. Also, Simon, Simpson's climbing partner, looks like Wallace of "Wallace and Grommet" fame. You should really go see this film.

My favorite line from the movie "I didn't know where I was. For a while I thought I had been beaten up in a pub car park again." Really, who can't relate to this guy?

As an added bonus, Simpson was at the screening and did a Q&A after the film. While he was signing autographs, my buddy and I tried to get him to go have a beer with us. We were unsuccessful, but he asked me how I hurt my arm (it was in a sling). I told him I broke my collarbone when I crashed my bike.

"That wasn't too clever," he said.

Not quite sure how to take that from a man who fell off a mountain and used his tibia to split his femur like a piece of firewood. Was it a sign of derision or solidarity?

Anyhow, go see this film!

Thank god someone else in the forums has seen this movie, leaders in the Amish church are suspending their prohibition on movies for this film, its that good!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(if you can't tell, I am joking)

Dude. Glad you told me it was a joke. I really thought the film was good enough to reverse hundreds of years of church doctrine.

See, I too can make humorless jokes when I try hard enough.

Snarf Snarf

I think you mean snark snark.

Rock on Snarky and screw the man!

Naw, actually its a local dialect.

Well temp1, I finally got around to seeing this today. Thanks for your recommendation. Eventhough we know how it's going to turn out, the journey is quite harrowing; I can't begin to count the number of times I winced or writhed at the thought of what these two guys were going through. Simpson's moments of clarity as to his predicament, and his dogged determination to keep pushing himself just a little bit further, were quite moving.

We are independent film lovers..Last night we saw "Touching the Void."
A documentary on two mountain climbers in Peru...Joe broke his leg on the descent....How he got down is a real cliff hanger....
And cyclist worry about crashes on down hills at 20 mph...Four days of that kind of pain that Joe suffered from, and I would have downed a poison pill 3 days earlier.. The movie is quite an adventure.Anyone else seen it?