Movie #: Title:   Year: 2003         IMDB mediatype
Genre: Director:     IMDB   Rating:  R  Box Set? box set?

FileNameRunTimeFileSize(MB)
1032 Touching The Void.mp41061243
Actors & their characters
Nicholas AaronFilter 
Joe SimpsonFilter 
Simon YatesFilter 

Synopsis

In June, 1985, British mountain climbers Joe Simpson (21) and Simon Yates (25) became the first people ever to make their way up to the top of the 21,000 foot Siula Grande peak in the Peruvian Andes via the mountain's nearly 90 degree west face. An accident during their descent, however, left Simpson with three breaks in his right leg (ankle, knee and calf). An attempt to lower Simpson down the nearly 90 degree face of the mountain went awry, and Yates was forced to make a tough decision to cut Simpson's line in order to prevent them from both falling to their dooms. Joe falls into a crevice and Simon, assuming him dead. Joe however survives the fall and was lucky to hit a ledge in the crevice and he continued to crawl his way down the mountain, making his way to the base camp just a few hours before Yates was planning on leaving, presuming Simpson to be dead. This documentary combines interviews with Simpson with reenactment footage to depict the miraculous survival story of how the mountaineer painfully crawled his way down the side of a mountain.  

More Info

Touching the Void is presented on DVD in anamorphic widescreen, which makes the most of the glorious vistas, and Dolby 5.1 sound. In addition to a making-of featurette, two fairly short extras are invaluable appendices to the main feature: "What Happened Next" tells in their own words how the team made it back home, while "Return to Siula Grande" finds both Joe and Simon back at the mountain in the summer of 2002 to advise on the filming; emotions are mixed at best, as Simon seems unable to express his real feelings about the experience, and Joe finds himself painfully reliving the ordeal in his mind, as well as in front of the cameras. --Mark Walker