Z/Web

Terrific film about the real-life story of two British mountaineers in the mid-80’s who attempted to climb an unclimbable mountain and while they succeeded, one of them nearly died during their descent. It’s a fantastic story of survival and human willpower. The one guy falls a short distance and breaks his leg horribly (the lower bone actually goes up into the thigh bone vertically). He’s doomed, right? But his partner won’t abandon him and comes up with a plan to lower him on a rope. The longest rope is 300 feet, so he’s lowered 300 feet, hangs on the side of the mountain while his partner climbs down, then the process is repeated. In this mannor they descend most of the way down. But finally they reach a place where the guy is lowered over the edge of a cliff — he’s danging in open air and there’s no way for him to grab a hold of anything. He’s run out of rope and can’t go any lower. With his broken leg, he can’t climb the rope. He’s stuck. He screams but his partner is too far away to hear. The partner is holding on for dear life, bracing himself, waiting for the weight to come off so he can climb down himself. He waits for hours, but nothing happens. Eventually he thinks his partner must be dead — why else wouldn’t he anchor himself to the snowy face of the mountain? As he begins to slip himself, he realizes he’s got no choice. If he doesn’t cut the rope, he’ll be dragged down and both men will die. So he cuts the rope. The partner with the broken leg falls… into the jaws of a crevace! Thus when the partner descends, he never sees his friend and continues on, thinking him dead. The man with the broken leg reallizes he must find his own way down. Miraculously, he does, literally dragging himself across miles of ice, snow, and rock. It’s just amazing. I really liked the way the film is presented. It’s technically a documentary, but it doesn’t feel like it. The two men talk to the camera, telling the story, and their voices are overlayed as actors re-enact their horrible ordeal. This works well as there’s hardly any dialog necessary or even appropriate, as not much talking happens on a mountain (the men are usually separated and connected only by slender ropes). Excellent film.