An
assault against common sense
The
sport of rock climbing is obviously dangerous, imagine how much
more so when done at high speed. The Huber brothers are either
a crumpet short of afternoon tea, or exceptionally brave and foolhardy
as they cheerfully indulge in the precarious occupation of fast
climbs at ridiculous risk. This vividly filmed German documentary
covers their speed climbing adventures in the Yosemite National
Park and Patagonia.
The dangerous climb they undertake in Yosemite is
El Capitan, the 1000 meter outcrop made popular by the impressive
photographs of Ansel Adams. To scale the sheer rock face takes
three days for most climbers, these guys want to do it in two
and a half hours ! Not for the feint hearted. Only men of steel
can tackle anything this demanding of strength and nerve.
The dizzying shots of the death defying climbs are
awe inspiring - the camera crew deserve bravery awards. They get
right in there with the action at great risk one suspects. A minor
problem, numerous interviews with Thomas and Alexander Huber in
Germanic thoroughness are rather extended and slow the action
down a notch. The brothers have lengthy discussions on the philosophy
of speed climbing.
How they conquer their fears - “finding out
what you’re made of.” We discover as brothers they
have different outlooks and go separate ways in their private
life sometimes with conflict. Yet their madcap mountaineering
bonds them together as they implicitly trust their lives to each
other. Risking life and limb gives them a special purpose.
From
the fiercely rugged Yosemite to the bleak wind swept icy peaks
of Patagonia there are many breath catching moments. While technicalities
of speed climbing aren’t fully explained to this layman
at least, no doubt they will be perfectly clear to rock climbers
in the audience.
As mentioned the cinematography under direction
of award winning Pepe Danquart (Hell on Wheels) is excellent,
some of the climbing shots truly remarkable. You don’t want
to suffer from vertigo watching this one. The scenic splendour
of the mountains is beautifully captured. You might even sense
the ghost of pioneer German film director Leni Riefenstahl (The
White Hell of Pitz Palu) hovering in the Patagonia sequences
What a real thrill it would be in IMAX 3D Yet one suspects the
film was shot with TV in mind, it suffers a little from talking
head syndrome and you wish for more of the nail biting action
shots.
In many ways similar to Touching the Void, though
not as engrossing in terms of plot. However this doco will prove
a winner with lovers of extreme sports and those brave souls who
enjoy taking their lives on a rope and dropping over voids at
weekends. Whether it will encourage them to more rapidly scoot
up rock faces is another matter.
John Bale
