Directed by Kevin Macdonald
Based on the book by Joe Simpson
Starring Brendan Mackey, Nicholas Aaron, Joe Simpson, Simon Yates
Rated R
Have you ever wondered how you would react if you shattered your leg at 20,000 feet on the face of a deadly mountain and then fell 130 feet into an icy crevasse and were left for dead – and without food or water — by your climbing partner? Joe Simpson never did until it happened to him in 1985 on the west face of Siula Grande in the Peruvian Andes. He found himself at the bottom of this crevasse when his climbing partner Simon Yates, thinking Simpson was dead, cut the rope tethering them together. Oscar winning director Kevin Macdonald (One Day In September) tells this harrowing and unforgettable story of survival with a running narration by the true life Joe Simpson and Simon Yates as well as dramatic re-enactments actually filmed on Siula Grande.
In fact, the dramatic re-enactments are a big part of what make this film so great. They are not the kind of cheesy recreations that you would see on cheap basic cable midnight programs. These are superbly filmed sequences that place you smack dab in the middle of danger. You can feel the cold slowing your blood, the ice shrinking your skin, and the mountain reaching out to claim your life.
After the film, stay for the extra features. A 22 minute making-of feature examines the crew’s journey to Peru and the challenges they faced in shooting a movie in the Andes with frozen hands. Another feature of about the same length, ”Return to Siula Grande”, is a video diary which follows Simpson and Yates as they return for the first time to Siula Grande along with Macdonald and the crew. You can sense a nervous anticipation in both men, especially Simpson who is visibly uncomfortable visiting this rocky behemoth that almost killed him. It seems a given that the men would be lifelong friends. But oddly, you discover that they barely even talked to each other after their salvation until they reunited for the film’s production. It’s nothing personal. In fact, Simpson vehemently defends Yates who unfairly took a beating in the mountain climbing community for his actions on that fateful climb. Also check out the feature “What Happened Next” which goes beyond the final moments of the film examining the events which occurred immediately after Simpson’s ordeal.
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