Review of North Face (2008) by Hercy W — 21 Apr 2011

By 1936, climbing the north face of the Eiger proved a formindable challenge that no climber could resist while at the same time proving equally deadly. Sensing a great possibility for propaganda, the Nazis are offering to honor anybody who reaches the summit at the upcoming Olympics in Berlin, giving them a front row seat to see Jesse Owens disprove the Nazis' racist theories.(Sorry, getting ahead of myself there.) If they don't find anyone, then Berlin newspaper editor Henry Arau(Ulrich Tukur) is told he will be next. Luise Fellner(Johanna Wokalek) saves him from a possibly excruciating death by speaking up at an editorial meeting, suggesting Andi Hinterstoisser(Florian Lukas) and Toni Kurz(Benno Furmann), two old climbing friends from Bavaria, leading to her being promoted from secretary to reporter. However, Toni questions the sanity of the whole thing, leading Arau to look elsewhere, namely Austria, for Edi Rainer(Georg Friedrich) and Willy Angerer(Simon Schwarz). At least, he says, they are Party members. Seeing as how Andi is committed to the climb, Toni is back in, as the friends bike 700 kilometers to Switzerland and destiny.

Based on a true story, "North Face" is a very suspenseful movie that milks the story for all it is worth. In fact, it might have been unbearably so if it had not split the time with the observers at nearby Jungfraujoch, making this not only unique for a climb, but also making excellent use of the constrast between the splendor of the spectators and the climbers in the tent city and on the mountain. Along the same lines, the movie also smartly explores the exploitation of heroes by the Nazis, as they intend to do the same with the climbers. Nationalism does not even creep into the thoughts of Toni and Andi. Like all climbers, they are in it for the challenge and to go where no one has been before. And it is odd to think of them as national heroes when we first see them cleaning toilets in the army. Luise gets a similarly humble introduction, in contrast to the part she will play later in the proceedings.