As a child it was the story of Tony Kurtz's attempt to climb the north face of the Eiger that first introduced Joe Simpson to the world of climbing. After his near-fatal accident in Peru, Simpson comes back to the story of Kurtz's mission and considers what he has in common with the climber who once inspired him. Using a mix of dramatic recreation and narration, Simpson tells the story of Kurtz's team and also attempts to do some parts of the original climb himself.
I'm not a climber and indeed am not good at even basic heights so I am not target audience for Simpson's books or the film adaptations thereof. Watching people die or nearly die while climbing for sport or fun always seems to me to be a waste of life, just as any death in a high-risk sport or hobby strikes me. This doesn't mean I think it is stupid to do it (we all take risks) but just that I do have this in the back of my head while watching this sort of story. I imagine it is maybe down to the individual but certainly the main thing I got from Kurtz's story was confirmation that I'm not cut out for this activity and I cannot relate to Simpson, who takes it as an inspiration to do it himself.
So the challenge with this is to make me, the casual viewer, buy into the adventure and be hooked by the story. It worked with Touching The Void and it works again here. Taking pretty much the same approach as that film did, The Beckoning Silence tells a fascinating and tragic story and does it in a way that will engage viewers even when the "why" issue is hanging around in the background. The recreation of the climb is good and avoids the hammy acting that some docu-dramas fall victim to. Simpson also goes to the Eiger for some of his narration but I'm not sure if something happened while he was there because the film makes very little use of this aspect and it could easily have done without it. Simpson's greater impact is as narrator to camera. He does well to bring his passion to the screen and convey it to the viewer a big part of the film engaging me as it did.
Overall then this is a good film that will appeal to the majority of viewers who like Touching The Void. Of course those that see climbing as a pointlessly dangerous pursuit may struggle to get past this but mostly the film does well to engage and draw the viewer into the world as Simpson sees it.
I'm not a climber and indeed am not good at even basic heights so I am not target audience for Simpson's books or the film adaptations thereof. Watching people die or nearly die while climbing for sport or fun always seems to me to be a waste of life, just as any death in a high-risk sport or hobby strikes me. This doesn't mean I think it is stupid to do it (we all take risks) but just that I do have this in the back of my head while watching this sort of story. I imagine it is maybe down to the individual but certainly the main thing I got from Kurtz's story was confirmation that I'm not cut out for this activity and I cannot relate to Simpson, who takes it as an inspiration to do it himself.
So the challenge with this is to make me, the casual viewer, buy into the adventure and be hooked by the story. It worked with Touching The Void and it works again here. Taking pretty much the same approach as that film did, The Beckoning Silence tells a fascinating and tragic story and does it in a way that will engage viewers even when the "why" issue is hanging around in the background. The recreation of the climb is good and avoids the hammy acting that some docu-dramas fall victim to. Simpson also goes to the Eiger for some of his narration but I'm not sure if something happened while he was there because the film makes very little use of this aspect and it could easily have done without it. Simpson's greater impact is as narrator to camera. He does well to bring his passion to the screen and convey it to the viewer a big part of the film engaging me as it did.
Overall then this is a good film that will appeal to the majority of viewers who like Touching The Void. Of course those that see climbing as a pointlessly dangerous pursuit may struggle to get past this but mostly the film does well to engage and draw the viewer into the world as Simpson sees it.