The madness of the brave. . . This film is as carved out of the rock as its protagonist and his friends. He is so tightly knocked down in his directing, dramaturgy, camera work, selection of all the characters that this is really woo-oo!
What is good about documentary films is that they are almost always real. This film is absolutely no exception. The main character, an outstanding climber, absolutely honestly and without embellishment tells about his not the simplest life, his worldview and attitude to the world - and also not the most banal. Not super-duper original and super-unorthodox, no, but different from what nine out of ten people have. You look at him, the hero, and no matter how you agree with some of his words, thoughts and actions, but you just automatically imbue a genuine respect for this extremely whole guy. Let his motivation be indisputable, let there be something childish in his goals, but rightly so, all this is of secondary importance in comparison with respect for the desire of a person for his seemingly unrealizable dream. In a broad sense, and here I am absolutely sure that the authors did not set such a goal, the film shows the quintessence of all that desire for something previously unknown and unfathomable that forces humanity to move forward and progress from the primitive to the inconceivable-complex, to achieve something new. In this, I believe, the film is simply extremely metaphorical, for which a separate plus in karma to its creators.
Talking about the beauty of a movie that shows mountains is strange. It goes without saying that the mountains themselves cannot but be beautiful. But the nuances of the ascent itself, simple everyday trifles, barely noticeable glimpses of the characters’ emotions betray the beauty of a different level, more implicit, subtle, more intimate, gentle plane of perception. The ability to show it is a great thing, of course. The authors were able to.
Well, a separate plus can be noted that the authors did not slide into a purely mechanical climbing manual for geeks, on the one hand, and a purely melodramatic story on the other, finding the golden, in my opinion, middle ground. All in all, it's a great movie. Personally, after watching it, I am very sorry that I am not engaged in climbing.
9 out of 10
Original