After scaling the
never-before-conquered 21,000-foot Siula Grande, mountain climbers
Joe Simpson (played by Brendan Mackey) and Simon Yates (played by
Nicholas Aaron) face their greatest challenge yet: getting back
down. But when Simpson shatters his leg in an awful fall and the
friends are separated by a series of devastating mishaps, their
individual journeys become life-changing.
CRITIQUE
Based on a true
story and the book by Joe Simpson, Touching the Void
recounts the lives of two mountain climbers who experienced a
horrifying and near-death ordeal climbing the Siula Grande during
one week in 1985. The film's director, Kevin McDonald, who also
made the chilling One Day in September, combines interviews
(with Joe Simpson and Simon Yates) and reenactments of the events
using real actors to tell the story.
Touching the Void
makes it known right away that Simpson survived. The film is not
about the outcome of the ordeal, but instead it focuses on the
long days and frustrations of both men after they're separated on
their way down the mountain. Interestingly, nothing big happens on
the way up, and I originally thought something would happen to the
two climbers during that time. The interviews are very in-depth,
but most importantly they tell the story the way it should be
told. In the first thirty minutes the audience gets to know both
men, their passion for climbing, and ultimately what it takes to
climb a mountain; both of them have to depend on and trust each
other without question.
The time when things
go wrong is on their descent from Siula Grande, a mountain and
valley covered with great amounts of snow and ice. Without
spoiling anything, Simpson finds himself in the worst situation he
possibly could've ever imaged. The actor playing him, Brendan
Mackey, does an incredible job, especially because he very
realistically conveys the anger, frustration, and pain he's in.
The real Simpson is surprisingly forthcoming and honest in his
interview, describing his exact feelings and pains. On the other
end is Yates, who offers his thoughts and feelings on the events.
Touching the Void
tells a harrowing and chilling story, but where the film really
succeeds in is making the story chilling to watch! Kevin
McDonald's decision to use the real Simpson and Yates in long
distance shots doesn't really pay off because the audience can't
see them, but his decision to parallel the interviews with
recreations pays off expertly. Cinematography by Mike Eley and
Keith Partridge is up close and personal, not to mention
gorgeous-looking. The mountain covered in snow looks both
beautiful and ominous, and photography of the climbing scenes is
pretty amazing. Among other contributing factors to the film is
Alex Heffes' great score and Bevan Smith's electronic music,
Justine Wright's careful editing, and Sarita Allison's authentic
make-up.
THE VIDEO
MGM presents Touching the
Void in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen. The film's color
palette is very bright and clear. Colors are also
well-saturated. Dark tones and black levels are not consistent.
Image quality is generally pretty good except some specks and
grain that appears in the more darker scenes. Outdoor scenes
look great, especially the shots of the mountain and the snow. I
didn't notice any compression artifacts. Overall, this is a
pretty good presentation.
Optional subtitles
include English and Spanish.
THE AUDIO
MGM presents Touching the
Void in English 5.1 Dolby Surround Sound. There are some
pretty good areas in this film where the rear speakers go to
work, specifically the high winds and crackling of snow breezing
past the two climbers. The interviews are recorded very well,
and the dialogue is easy to understand. The score by Alex Heffes
is composed very well and sounds just great in this
presentation.
A French dub track
is also available.
THE EXTRAS
The Making-of featurette
(23:00) offers an interview with director Kevin MacDonald where he
describes and comments on the film. It also shows a good amount of
behind-the-scenes footage and film clips. Ten minutes in, we get
interviews with Joe Simpson and Simon Yates as the crew gets ready to
shoot scenes by the mountain.
Narrated by director Kevin MacDonald, Return to Siula Grande
(25:19) takes place in the summer of 2002 as Simpson and Yates
accompany MacDonald back to Peru to help with the making of the film.
This featurette copies more than several scenes from the making-of,
which is obviously redundant, but overall it focuses more on Simpson
and Yates. We get to see parts of Simpson's video diary and the two
going back to their original base camp. Later, when the crew sets up a
critical shot, Simpson becomes somewhat claustrophobic as he records
his video diary, and about three weeks in, he becomes frustrated with
himself and the crew while filming the recreations. Towards the end we
learn Yates chose to have no further involvement with the production
after the return to Siula Grande, and Simpson felt the film accurately
portrayed the events the ordeal.
What Happened Next (9:41) is an interview with Simpson and Yates,
as well as colleague Richard Hawking who looked after the climbers'
base camp at the time. Essentially, we find out how the three men got
back to civilization, with Simpson trying to balance sitting on a mule
on the way back, as well as the ordeal in a Lima hospital and the
return home.
Rounding out the extras is the film's
theatrical trailer. There's also bonus trailers for
Bubba Ho-Tep, Casa de los Babys, Osama, and
Barbershop 2. The 107-minute feature is organized into
sixteen chapters.
FINAL THOUGHTS
If anything, Touching
the Void teaches us to believe in optimism and trust ourselves to
make hard decisions even when the situations are far from favorable at
first glance. This film comes highly recommended, and I'm really
looking forward to what subject Kevin McDonald will tackle next. The
DVD offers good video/audio, and the few extras are revealing if also
somewhat redundant.
