NORTH FACE [2008] review
August 1, 2010 · Print This Article
Usually I know well ahead of time which movie I will be watching that night. Since the grim INSOMNIA ended last night I was thinking I wanted to watch a comedy, a genre I rarely watch, to erase those ill feelings. Well, all of a sudden I ended up watching NORTH FACE, which despite the funny quips the climbers make to each other, is as far removed from the comedy genre as any film can be.
Yet I do not feel depressed or filled with illness now, but rather respect. Those that toil upon alpine peaks and test themselves against the ultimate challenge are truly alive because the risk of death is legitimate. One cannot feel alive if death is not a distinct possibility at the same time as well. It is hard to suppress the feeling of wanting to challenge oneself it a physical way for a Man. I feel the instinct in my heart to do so right now. However, modern society is the opposite of that which makes one feel alive. So I used to seek out at least once a year an action that pushed my physical limits, though even that mild frequency has slowed.
NORTH FACE is about climbing the Eiger, the last challenge of the Alps left by the 1930s. We follow two German soldier/alpinists and a pair of Austrian rivals up the cold mountainside. Yet the director, Philipp Stolzl takes his time bringing the audience to the mountain. We spend a lot of time learning what type of climber Andi is, wilder, braver, perhaps reckless, and what type of climber Toni is, soulful, prudent, perhaps too willing to give in to Andi.
As these strong Men camp at the base of the mountain, the scenes are juxtaposed with the luxury hotel just above them, and the cut scenes continue throughout providing an excellent contrast for the audience.
The first time I saw Andi using a wooden handled climbing axe, I as taken aback. Then seeing the shoes he was climbing in. I do not know if modern equipment means that modern climbers are lest skilled than their predecessors, or just that the mortality rate for modern climbers is much increased due to modern equipment? Surely new climbing techniques have been added in the past 70 years as well. Still, there can be no doubting the bravery of climbing ice slopes in non-tethered wool mittens.
I had no knowledge of the true story the movie is based on, so I was in total suspense until the very end, which was very powerful. A love story is woven into the main climbing story, though subtly, as were hints of the political climate in 1930′s Germany. Again, they were used in the exact right amounts by the director to enhance and provide an underlining to the focal story.
NORTH FACE is an engaging and intense film that takes energy to watch, and rewards the viewer for surviving until the end with a not soon to be forgotten movie experience.
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