Movie Review: Touching the Void

Put simply, Touching the Void tells one of the most incredible stories you're ever likely to hear - doubly so because it's true.

It's a movie-slash-documentary recreation of a real-life disasterous mountain climb in Peru, undertaken by two British adventurers in the mid twenties.

The two guys, Joe and Simon, along with their support man Richard (who remained back at camp) return to intersperse the on-screen action with interviews about their thoughts and feelings throughout the events in the film.

I may as well reveal the events - the film delivers the story in such a simple but spectacular fashion that knowing "what happens" doesn't do anything to change what you'll feel when you see it. You will still be amazed by the survivors' retelling of events.

We know both Joe and Simon survived, because obviously they give us the interviews. What we can't get until they explain is the ordeal they went through, and the enormous impact that has on the human body and spirit.

After successfully reaching the summit, the two begin their descent. Joe, moving first but blinded by a snow storm, slips down the side of a vertical drop and breaks his leg.

That sounds painful enough, but Joe recalls that his shin bone had splintered, and actually grated right over the top of his knee. Simon refused to leave his friend to die despite their lack of supplies, and the two slowly and painfully began threading down the mountain.

Such a drastic event is only the beginning of their troubles. In the next scene, Joe slides too far over a cliff edge. Unable to hear or see him, Simon didn't know how far the drop was and couldn't do anything to help. Stuck for hours in a wind chill factor of "around -80", Simon felt the snow under him giving way, and eventually cut the rope to save both of them from falling.

Quite what you must feel after slicing away your friend's lifeline I don't know. That's not the end. Joe survives the 150 foot fall into a dark, hellish crevasse. He then goes on to escape his icy prison by lowering himself deeper into it.

Without food or water and completely alone he nonetheless crawled and hopped across around 5 miles of cliff-ridden snow and rocklands to safety over the next 4 days. His leg was so agonisingly painful he was nearly blacking out with every movement. Unsurprisingly, he was completely delirious by the end of his journey.

The cinematography is superb, great landscape shots. The recreation is well filmed, and the story itself I must admit had me close to tears by the end. That a man can endure so much is almost more surreal than most fiction.

Final word:

Highly recommended, a truly excellent film.

5/5.


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