"The closer you are to death. The more you realize you are alive."

Touching the Void (2004): 8/10

Poster (c) IFC Films

Usually mountain climbing motion pictures are left up to either IMAX short movies (Everest) or crappy movies (Vertical Limit), but not usually documentaries. It's even rarer to see it done in a fashion like in Touching the Void. Void is not a straight documentary, nor is it told in a normal way. It's almost completely acted out, but is basically narrated by the two main characters (in real life). Occasionally the film cuts back to the real people, documentary style, but for the most part, it's acted out.

Two young climbers, Joe Simpson and Simon Yates, decide to climb Siula Grande, a previously unclimbed peak in the Peruvian Andes. However, many things befall them on their decent (as they always do-never on their ascent), including near-fatal injuries and crucial decisions.

Void is one of the most thrilling movies I've seen in theaters for a long time. I'm amazed on how exciting this movie was, for not only was it obvious that both men survived (they narrated it!), but documentaries aren't always the most exciting genre. However, it was made perfectly. Not knowing much about mountain climbing, I would have been lost had it not been for the "illustrations". And without the narration/documentation, it would have been bland, hard to distinguish the action, and, quite simply, dull after a while. It was filmed perfectly: exciting, easy to follow, and fun to watch.

However, one thing just REALLY bothered me, and that was how fake the mountains looks when it was just a pan across. It wasn't even CGI. I swear, it was just whipped cream! Going through all of the endeavors that those two went on through a bunch of whipped cream? It's shocking. Also, sometimes the shots looked extremely fake. They looked exactly like a Hollywood soundstage. Other than that, though, Touching the Void is a tense, new style of movie that will probably be utilized more in the future. That's a good thing, as long as it's done correctly, like this movie does.

Not Rated.

Review Date: April 8, 2004