Cheap Touching the Void (DVD) (Joe Simpson (II), Nicholas Aaron, Brendan Mackey, Simon Yates) (Kevin Macdonald) Price

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Customer Reviews of Touching the Void

SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST...
This film, based upon the international best seller of the same name, recounts an amazing tale of courage, fortitude, and the will to live, despite dire circumstances. About twenty or so years ago, British mountaineers Joe Simpson and his then climbing partner, Simon Yates, attempted to ascend a perilous section of the Peruvian Andes, Suila Grande, a majestic 21,000 foot peak that was nearly inaccessible. These two intrepid climbers tackled the mountain alpine style and, surprisingly, reached the summit, the first mountaineers to do so.

After reaching the summit, however, tragedy struck on their descent, when Joe, up over 19,000 feet, fell and hit a slope at the base of a cliff, breaking his right leg and rupturing his right knee. Beneath him was a seemingly endless fall to the bottom. When Simon reached him, they both knew that the chances for getting Joe off the mountain were virtually non-existent. Yet, Simon Yates fashioned a daring plan to do just that. For the next few hours, they worked in tandem through a snowstorm, and managed a risky, yet effective, way of trying to lower Joe down the mountain.

Several thousand feet down, Joe, who was roped to Simon, dropped off an edge and found himself now free hanging in space, about six feet away from an ice wall, unable to reach it with his axe. The edge was over hung above him and the dark outline of a yawning crevasse lay directly below him. Joe could not get up, and Simon could not get down. In fact, Joe's weight began to pull Simon off the mountain. So, Simon was finally forced to do the only thing he could do under the circumstances. He cut the rope, believing that he was consigning his friend to certain death. Therein lies the tale. It is at this point in the film that the real story begins.

What happens next is sure to make one believe in miracles. This is an absorbing, beautifully shot film. The story is told in a sort of unique docu-drama style, with actors re-enacting moments in this fantastic, true life tale of survival, while Joe Simpson and Simon Yates narrate what happened on that mountain. It is an absorbing piece of cinema, as it presents a somewhat novel and fresh way of telling this amazing survival story. The cinematography is magnificent, as the film is shot in the Peruvian Andes, where the incident occurred. Moreover, Joe Simpson and Simon Yates do the actual climbing scenes in the film. All armchair climbers will thrill to the sound of their crampons and axes digging into the ice. My only suggestion is that one read the book before viewing the film.

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A remarkable documentary about survival
Back in 1985, two young British climbers traveling through Peru, decided to tackle the west face of Siula Grande, an 21,000-foot, unclimbed peak of the Peruvian Andes. Joe Simpson and Simon Yates make the ascent with relatively little problems. On the fourth day, as they methodically work their way down, Joe stumbles and breaks his leg. Instead of leaving him, Simon works out a way to start lowering his companion slowly and steadily, using a combination of both their ropes. He unknowingly lowers him over a 300-foot crevasse. With no way for Joe to climb up and the snow quickly slipping away from beneath him, Simon makes a decision to cut the rope.

What follows in "Touching the Void" is the story of both mens' struggles to make it back to their base camp. Simon, assuming that his friend is dead, slowly trudges down the glacier, suffering from terrible guilt over what happened. Joe, not knowing if Simon is still alive, must find a way out of the crevasse, even with the terrible pain coming from his broken leg. This is a remarkable documentary from director Kevin MacDonald, based upon the book by Joe Simpson. Full of dizzying visuals, you really have the sense that you are with both the climbers during their ordeal, not just physically but, thanks to some unique camera work, mentally, as well. What's most astonishing, though, is that this is a true story. You start to forget that for a moment while watching, then Joe or Simon appears on the screen to narrate and to explain their emotions at the time. An incredible film.

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The Triumph of the Human Spirit
"Touching the Void" is a partly re-enacted documentary of a climb of the western face of the Siula Grande in Peru in 1985. The details of the climb make for a fine and gripping film.

The brief details of the climb of Joe Simpson and Simon Yates is that their ascent is relatively straight forward despite the mountain being more technically difficult than they had expected. It on the descent that problems really began. Firstly and, obviously, critically, Simpson slipped on an ice ledge and smashed right leg. The only piece of good fortune being that no bone penetrated the skin. It was thus left to Yates to assist his partner to the base camp.

At this point, matters deteriorated further when Yates was forced to cut their connecting rope when Simpson had fallen over a cliff and was in danger of dragging his partner with him. Yates then proceeded to climb down having realistically left Simpson for dead. However, by a combination of luck and supreme courage, Simpson too made the descent but in a truly battered state. He had, for example, lost one third of his body weight!

Upon the climbers return to their native England, Yates was apparently criticised for cutting Yates loose. Simpson never joined this criticism but only praised Yates for his efforts.

The film is a re-enactment of the heroism of the two climbers. It outlines to all that mountain climbing is a dangerous past time that only the foolish and/or the brave can contemplate. The film should be seen by all if only for the wonderful telling of a story of heroism within a vast, magnificent and unforgiving landscape.