Touching the Void (2003)

User Rating:

8.1/10   

Director:

Kevin Macdonald

Writer:

Joe Simpson (book)

Release Date:

12 December 2003 (UK)

Genre:

Documentary | Adventure | Drama | Sport

Tagline:

The closer you are to death. The more you realize you are alive.

Plot:

The true story of two climbers and their perilous journey up the west face of Siula Grande in the Peruvian Andes in 1985.

Plot Keywords:

Rope | Disaster | Crevasse | Broken Leg | Delirium

Awards:

5 wins & 7 nominations

Cast

Brendan Mackey	...	Joe Simpson
Nicholas Aaron	...	Simon Yates
Richard Hawking	...	Himself
Joe Simpson	...	Himself
Simon Yates	...	Himself
Ollie Ryall	...	Richard Hawking

Directed by
Kevin Macdonald

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Joe Simpson		book

Produced by
Charles Furneaux	....	executive producer
Robin Gutch	....	executive producer
Gina Marsh	....	line producer
John Smithson	....	producer
Paul Sowerbutts	....	associate producer
Sue Summers	....	co-producer
Paul Trijbits	....	executive producer
Paul Webster	....	chief executive procuder: FilmFour

Original Music by
Alex Heffes

Cinematography by
Mike Eley
Keith Partridge

Film Editing by
Justine Wright

Casting by
Susie Figgis

Production Design by
Patrick Bill

Art Direction by
Patrick Bill

Costume Design by
Patrick Bill

Makeup Department
Sarita Allison	....	makeup designer

Production Management
Emma Clarke	....	executive in charge of production: film council
Peter McAleese	....	executive in charge of production

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Nick Laws	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Giles Asbury	....	storyboard artist

Sound Department
Tim Alban	....	sound re-recording mixer
Robert Brazier	....	foley editor
Felicity Cottrell	....	foley artist
Richard Davey	....	assistant sound re-recording mixer
Mick Duffield	....	sound recordist
Anthony Faust	....	adr foley mixer
Anthony Faust	....	foley supervisor
Joakim Sundström	....	supervising sound editor
Mark Kenna	....	consultant: Dolby film sound (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Martin Neill	....	special effects

Visual Effects by
Matthias Albrecht	....	digital film editor
Simon Burley	....	software and technical
Ben Haworth	....	digital effects artist

Stunts
David Cuthbertson	....	climbing stunt double
Rory Gregory	....	climbing stunt double

Camera and Electrical Department
Oliver Driscoll	....	second assistant camera
Olly Driscoll	....	clapper loader
Christian Klehr	....	grip
Ralph Kulike	....	gaffer
Dan Shoring	....	additional photographer
Dan Shoring	....	first assistant camera
Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert	....	unit photographer: Alps
Chris Thornton	....	film recorder operator
Simon Wagen	....	additional climbing photographer (as Simon Hagen)

Casting Department
Indira Ashton	....	casting assistant

Editorial Department
Stephen Barker	....	post-production consultant
Simon Brook	....	on-line editor
Ben Lester	....	assistant editor
Vincent Narduzzo	....	colorist
Kevin Phelan	....	head of post-production: Lip Sync Post
Jon Thompson	....	post-production consultant

Music Department
Abi Leland	....	music supervisor
Andy Richards	....	score mixer
Bevan Smith	....	composer: electronic music

Other crew
Olly Allen	....	climbing support: Alps
Kim Ballard	....	production financing
Christine Barnes	....	climbing support: Alps
Christine Baxter-Jones	....	production team
Hattie Bowering	....	final delivery and release supervisor
Lesley Brown	....	production team
Eduardo Shuán Caldúa	....	climbing support: Peru
Melorie Chilton	....	legal services for darlow smithson productions
Hugo Milla Chinchay	....	climbing support: Peru
David Cuthbertson	....	key mountain guide
David Cuthbertson	....	safety team
Lucy Daniels	....	production team
Regine Dura	....	production team
John Falkiner	....	key mountain guide
John Falkiner	....	safety team
Michael Fleisher	....	business affairs: Channel 4 International
Néstor Morales Flores	....	trekking leader: Peru
Laura Franses	....	physical production coordinator: FilmFour
Paul Gardner	....	archive researcher
Rory Gregory	....	key mountain guide
Rory Gregory	....	safety team
Paul Grindey	....	business affairs: FilmFour
Brian Hall	....	head mountain guide
Nion Hazell	....	production coordinator
Andrew Hildebrand	....	business affairs: FilmFour
Vinnie Holden	....	head of production finance: film council
Marcelino Milla Huarac	....	climbing support: Peru
Vicky Jones	....	business affairs: Channel 4
Jim Kerr	....	climbing support: Alps
François Marsigny	....	climbing support: Alps
Deborah McLaughlan	....	production team
Jesús Montero	....	production team
Paul Moores	....	key mountain guide
Paul Moores	....	safety team
Pelayo Milla Morales	....	climbing support: Peru
Fiona Morham	....	head of physical production: film council
Eloy Salazar Obregón	....	climbing support: Peru
Rodolfo Reyes Oropeza	....	climbing support: Peru
Emma Parsons	....	production team
James Reekie	....	production accountant
Dr. Martin Rhodes	....	unit doctor
Tim Rhodes	....	climbing support: Alps
Faye Richardson	....	production team
Ollie Ryall	....	climbing support: Alps
Juan Sánchez	....	climbing support: Peru
Joe Simpson	....	additional reconstruction
Joe Simpson	....	consultant
Gillian Strachan	....	production team
Ulla Streib	....	head of production: Darlow Smithson Productions
Gareth Tansey	....	title designer
Harry Taylor	....	key mountain guide
Harry Taylor	....	safety team
Jorge Clemente Vargas	....	climbing support: Peru
Howard Watkins	....	title designer
John N. Whittle	....	key mountain guide (as John Whittle)
John N. Whittle	....	safety team (as John Whittle)
Marc Wolff	....	aerial coordinator
Simon Yates	....	additional reconstruction
Michael J. Harker	....	completion bond company representative (uncredited)

Thanks
Richard Hawking	....	thanks
Adrian Warren	....	thanks
Paul Webster	....	thanks
Marc Wolff	....	thanks
Simon Yates	....	thanks
Marc Ziegler	....	thanks

Production Companies

• Darlow Smithson Productions
• FilmFour
• Pathé
• UK Film Council

Distributors

• Pathé Distribution (2003) (UK) (theatrical)
• A-Film Distribution (2004) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Asmik Ace Entertainment (2005) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Diaphana Films (2004) (France) (theatrical)
• Fandango (2005) (Italy) (all media)
• Four Films (2006) (Chile) (all media)
• Hopscotch Productions (2004) (Australia) (theatrical)
• IFC Films (2004) (USA) (theatrical)
• Kinowelt Filmverleih (2004) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Kinowelt Home Entertainment (Germany) (DVD)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2004) (USA) (video)
• Monopole-Pathé (2004) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• Paramount Home Entertainment (2005) (Brazil) VHS) (DVD)
• Paramount (2004) (Sweden) (DVD)
• Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) (2004) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• United International Pictures (UIP) (2004) (Spain) (theatrical)
• With Cinema (Korea)
• Yleisradio (YLE) (2007) (Finland) (TV)

Special Effects

• Red Vision

Other Companies

• Audiolink Radio Communications  walkie talkies
• Clarity Post Production Sound  sound post-production
• Film Red  special thanks
• Kodak  motion picture film supplied by
• Limehouse Recordings  sound post-production
• Lip Sync Post  HDTV to film transfer
• Lip Sync Post  titles
• Mayflower Recording  adr and foley facilities
• St. Anne's Post  post-production

MPAA:

Rated R for language.

Runtime:

106 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Germany:12 | Netherlands:MG6 | Singapore:NC-16 | Switzerland:7 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Chamonix, Haute-Savoie, France

Company:

Darlow Smithson Productions

Trivia:

Again at the end of the movie, another line claims that the route opened by Simon and Joe has never been repeated. This also partially incorrect. Political unrest in the area (because of Sendero Luminoso activities) prevented climbers to reach Siula for many years. However, in 1999, Carlos Buehler, one of the most talented US alpine-style climbers, repeated the route with a companion. In the last section (the one covered by Joe and Simon in their last day on the West face), Buehler decided conditions were too dangerous, and thus opened a more direct variant (humorously named "Avoiding The Touch") going straight up the summit, more technically difficult but safer. They went up the summit ridge but not to the summit proper (as Joe had originally considered), choosing to descend back the climbing route in order to avoid the treacherous North Ridge.

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: After Joe pulls the rope completely down while in the crevasse, the cut rope end is frayed. Later when looking at the rope end again, it's a nice clean cut.

Quotes:

Joe Simpson: Bloody hell... I'm gonna die to Boney M.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 50 Greatest Documentaries (2005) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Brown Girl in the Ring

Remarkable courage and determination

Based on the best-selling book of the same name, Kevin Macdonald's docu-drama Touching the Void recreates the 1985 experience of Joe Simpson and Simon Yates, two British mountaineers attempting to climb the Siula Grande Mountains of Peru, a mountain range no one had ever succeeded in scaling before. The film tells the story of how Simpson, alone at 21,000 feet -- with a broken leg, dehydrated, and a step away from death, pushed his broken body beyond the limits of what he knew to be possible in order to survive. Oscar-winning director of One Day in September, Macdonald uses actors Brendan Mackay (Simpson) and Nicholas Aaron (Yates) to recreate the adventure while the real climbers provide a running commentary.

After ascending the west face of the mountain in 3 1/2 days using the "purest" style of climbing (sleeping in ice caves rather than setting up base camps along the way), the descent is treacherous as Simpson misses a step and his lower leg is driven into his kneecap. Tied together by a rope, Yates begins lowering his partner downward in the darkness, 300 feet at a time while Simpson is in excruciating pain. Progress is halted when Simpson is lowered into a crevasse and left dangling in mid-air, unable to signal his companion. Yates believes him to be dead and makes a crucial and controversial decision to cut the rope, leaving his partner alone and without support. Simpson has never blamed Yates for his decision and has gone to great lengths in his book and in interviews to defend Simon whose character has been continually under attack since that fateful day.

The film was shot in authentic locations in the Andes and the Alps, and the result is a sense of being there, experiencing the pitiless forces of nature. Though the outcome is preordained, how the two friends managed to survive their ordeal provides more than enough heart-pounding suspense. The film shows Simpson trying to knot a rope with frozen fingers and guzzling the first muddy water he finds to counter the effects of severe dehydration. One of the most intriguing sequences shows the climber in a semi-delirious state listening in his mind to the sound of Boney M's Brown Girl in the Ring.

While there is little in the way of spiritual epiphany (Simpson candidly discusses his atheism), there is an unmistakable feeling that both men have been strengthened by their shared ordeal. Simpson touches the void within him, an emptiness that compels him to keep going only because he "wanted to be with someone when I died". Reaching base camp in the middle of the night, he calls out but no one answers, `When no one answered the call", he says, "I lost something. I lost me.' Then, when Simon and Richard rescue him, the thing he remembers most is the feeling of being held. Though he did not experience a higher power guiding him, he does sense a freedom from the world's clutter that makes him feel more alive. Touching the Void is a tale of remarkable courage and determination that touches the place within ourselves that tells us that miracles can occur in our life if we are able to go beyond what we thought was possible and act as if our life depends on the result.