 Movie
Reviews
with Evelyn Gough
Touching the Void (M)
Directed by Kevin Macdonald
 I don't know about you, but mountain climbing has never been high on my "must do" list. After squirming my way through this harrowing doco-drama, I've scratched it completely. Forget about physically climbing 20,000 feet up a sheer ice-face, just watching it on the big screen is agonising enough.
Personally I think they're both totally nuts but hey, different strokes for different folks and for two young English climbers, Joe Simpson and Simon Yates, there was nothing they enjoyed doing more than climbing mountains. And there was definitely nothing sissy about their technique, the two preferring to do it "Alpine-style". And no, that's not an Austrian sex position, it means they liked to climb by themselves with no back-up team or any equipment other than what they could carry in their packs.
Of course that's fine and dandy so long as nothing goes wrong. If something does go wrong you're pretty well stuffed. It's goodbye, sayonara, ciao, adios....
Surprise, surprise, something did go horribly wrong for Joe and Simon and Touching the Void is the award-winning film based on Joe Simpson's bestselling novel recounting that fateful 1985 climb. It should be a familiar story to many interested in climbing, debated endlessly in countless media interviews. Here's the scenario: the two set out to scale the 20,000 foot ice-face known as the Sivla Grande in the Peruvian Andes. It was tough, but getting up there was the easy part. Trying to descend in a white out, they walked off the edge of the mountain into the abyss, survived, then having finally found a way down, Joe Simpson broke his leg.
He thought he was done for, but his partner tied a rope around him and began slowly lowering him off the almost vertical mountain. It was an amazing effort, but near the end, Joe went limp on the end of the line. Simon didn't know what had happened - Joe had been lowered over an ice hang and was dangling mid-air. After a number of hours, while being slowly pulled off the mountain, Simon decided to cut the rope.
This is an incredible story and arguably one of the most amazing survival tales ever. Just what Joe Simpson went through to save his own life is mind-boggling. The two recount that fateful trip in interviews which, combined with dramatic reconstructions of the climb, make for compelling, if harrowing, viewing. You might know the story, but your heart is still pounding. In fact, it's almost too painful to watch. Thankfully the tension is broken by Simpson and Yates and their use of classic British understatement. For example: after spending four days crawling down a mountain with a broken leg, and no food or water Simpson says "I didn't sleep too well that night".
If you're a fan of documentaries or are just having a bad day and want to see someone having an even worse one then I highly recommend Touching the Void.
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