Review of Touching the Void (2003) by Simon G — 07 Aug 2012
The harrowing true story of British mountaineers Joe Simpson (the film is an adaptation of his book of the same name) and Simon Yates as they attempt to scale the unclimbed West Face of the Siula Grande peak of the Peruvian Andes. Leaving a third man they had met, Richard Hawking, at base camp they set out on their climb and despite the treacherousness of the West Face the ascent goes surprisingly well, however, during the descent Simpson is seriously injured rendering him unable to go on without Yates's help. From here things go from bad to worse as both men fight to make it off the mountain alive against insurmountable odds.
The ordeal is dramatically re-enacted with actors playing Simpson (Brendan Mackey) and Yates (Nicholas Aaron) but its the voice overs and interview snippets provided by Simpson, Yates and Hawking interlaced with the action that really bring home the very real peril and danger these two men faced and how close and also how frequently they came to a cold and lonely death.
This review of Touching the Void (2003) was written by Simon G on 07 Aug 2012.
Touching the Void has generally received very positive reviews.
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