Review of Touching the Void (2003) by John T — 29 Jun 2009

When asked what makes a mountaineer ? , Mountain Rescue worker Willy Pfisterer once said "to pass our test. The doctor holds a flashlight to your ear. If he can see light coming out the other one, you qualify.".

As far as i'm concerned there isn't a truer quote about mountaineering than that one and you only have to watch this brilliant Documentary to see why.

In 1985, two adventurous young mountaineers, Joe Simpson and Simon Yates, set off to climb the treacherous west face of the Siula Grande in the Peruvian Andes. They were experienced climbers, and climbed "Alpine-style," climbing the mountain in "one great push," without setting up ropes or base camps ahead of time. After dealing with a snowstorm and some dangerous climbing over powder formations, they reached the summit (about 21,000 feet) on the third day.

The climb down proved to be far more difficult. Simpson fell and broke his leg badly. Yates decided to try to lower Simpson down the mountain, one 300-foot section of rope at a time. The climbers had run out of gas to melt snow, so they couldn't risk stopping as night came, and a violent snowstorm began. Their plodding, painful journey hit a snag when Yates inadvertently lowered Simpson over the edge of a cliff.

In the storm, the men couldn't hear each other's cries, and, Yates, uncertain as to Simpson's position, and gradually sliding down the slope himself, decided to cut the rope that connected them, sending Simpson plummeting to certain death. Miraculously, Simpson survived the fall, and was faced with the prospect of getting off the mountain alone with no food, no water, and a broken leg.

I love documentaries .

Sometimes I prefer them to feature films simply because what you are seeing and hearing is real. I tend to avoid the ones that are overloaded with reconstruction because that real feel tends to not be there. Touching The Void is the exception . This gripping documentary is virtually all reconstruction with the voices of Joe Simpson and Simon Yates narrating over the top and it works really well.

The photography is stunning and you really get the feeling you are with the guys as they go through their own personal nightmare .

Every so often we see the guys relaying the story in the studio and although they are trying their best to keep their British stiff upper lips and not show emotion , eventually the retelling of what happens makes the tears unavoidable.

You don't have to know a thing about mountaineering ( I don't) to enjoy this film , you just have to appreciate that sometimes in life you have to make terrible decisions , whether they are right or wrong , then you have to live ( or not) with the consequences.

An interesting little footnote that is only briefly mentioned at the end of the film is that Simon the Daily Mail newspaper had published a wildly incorrect version of the story, implying that Simon had tried to kill Joe.

However, in the DVD commentary, Joe Simpson himself clearly says that Simon came under much criticism after returning home, and that he wrote Touching the Void to defend Simon.

Superbly directed by Kevin Macdonald and highly Recommended.

8 out of 10.