Review of Touching the Void (2003) by Kris A — 12 Sep 2004

[color=black]I first heard about [b]Shaolin Soccer[/b] when I saw the trailer for it on AICN. Not the American trailer, but the original trailer. This was somewhere around 2001. Then I saw the American trailer for it when I saw Spy Kids 2. That was in 2002. Then Mirimax couldn?t make up its mind on how it wanted to release the movie, finally deciding to dub the voices, cut away about 20 minutes, and give it a limited release with little fanfare in the beginning of this year. Needless to say, I?ve been waiting a while to see this one.[/color].

[color=black]The DVD came with both the original and the [/color][color=black]US[/color][color=black] version of the film, and I watched both. The [/color][color=black]US[/color][color=black] edit is surprisingly better. The dubbing has its weaknesses, but compared to the occasionally mistranslated subtitles, it?s not that bad. The shorter running time allows the film to move faster and get rid of some dead weight. But why am I analyzing these lame differences? Shaolin Soccer doesn?t quite have [b]Hero[/b]?s eye candy, but it still has some wonderful moments of sports insanity. Players fly through the air, soccer balls catch on fire a la NBA Jam- any scene in the film that takes place on a soccer field is pure gold. And besides, how can you hate a movie where the villains are Team Evil?[/color].

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[b][color=black]Touching the Void[/color][/b][color=black] is a mockumentary of a different sort, one that combines recreations of actual events with voiceovers by the men who were involved. Technically, the film is quite an achievement, since it?s got to be hard to shoot mountain climbing scenes involving crevasses, snow storms, and huge walls of ice (the special features on the DVD, sadly, don?t enlighten us much on how they made it all happen). And it can be very visually astounding at times. But somehow, the film managed to make a story about a near-death experience on a dangerous mountain boring. The first half is solid, but once Joe Simpson, left for dead with a broken leg, starts his slow, solitary descent to base camp, the movie hits a brick wall. He?s moving at a snail?s pace while gradually losing his mind, and that doesn?t make for enthralling cinema (certainly not after he?s been dangling off a cliff, anyway). I guess Touching the Void?s biggest error is that it spoils us with an hour of thrills before making a steep decline. Recommended, but barely (5.5/10).[/color].

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[color=black]Most so-called thrillers don?t contain many thrills. [b]Blood Simple[/b], on the other hand, does. It?s a cross between a thriller and a film-noir, and I suppose we could combine the two to call it a ?thrilm-noir?. Okay, scratch that thought. Blood Simple was the debut film for the Coen Brothers, and it?s a great one. There?s style to spare, and the twisty plot isn?t that shabby either. And yes, it does thrill. The commentary track on the DVD is beyond awesome, and worth a rental on its own. Seeing Blood Simple also means that I?ve seen every Coen Brothers film made to date. Huzzah! I rank them as follows, from best to worst (but even ?worst? is a relative term):[/color].

[color=black]-O Brother, Where Art Thou?[/color].

[color=black]-Raising [/color][color=black]Arizona[/color].

[color=black]-The Man Who Wasn?t There[/color].

[color=black]-Intolerable Cruelty[/color].

[color=black]-Blood Simple[/color].

[color=black]-Barton Fink[/color].

[color=black]-[/color][color=black]Fargo[/color].

[color=black]-The Big Lebowski[/color].

[color=black]-The Ladykillers[/color].

[color=black]-The Hudsucker Proxy[/color].

[color=black]-Miller?s Crossing[/color].

[color=black]To be fair, though, this list is best viewed as three parts; the first two, the last three, and those in between. The top three films are the first Coen films I saw, so perhaps there?s a bit of a primacy bias going on with their placement. O Brother manages to take the top spot because of its music and wonderful quotability, and Raising Arizona takes second because it?s just that damn funny. Then there?s the bottom of the pack. The Ladykillers and The Hudsucker Proxy are widely regarded as the weaker films of the Coen filmography, and Miller?s Crossing just didn?t click with me. But, since even these bottom-of-the-ladder films aren?t any worse than 5/10, the Coens are doing pretty good for themselves.[/color].

[color=black]Now we get to the middle. That?s the tricky part. TMWWT, Intolerable Cruelty, and Blood Simple are all high-quality, 8/10 films, but they?re hard to compare each other to, making it hard for me to put them in an order; I did the best I could with my list. The stylish, noir-like TMWWT and Blood Simple are very similar, and as it has been a couple years since I?ve seen TMWWT, that movie could conceivably go a spot or two down. But let?s not nitpick. I liked Intolerable Cruelty more than most people, and while it has its weaknesses when compared to other Coen comedies, it?s still a fine film. Barton Fink was a wonderful exercise in style but I?m still wondering what it meant, and [/color][color=black]Fargo[/color][color=black] may require another viewing. I find it overrated, but it has a knockout ending. The Big Lebowski was also very enjoyable, but I don?t find it as much of a classic as others do.[/color].