The Beckoning Silence (2007)

Overrated and overhyped

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

*This review contains spoilers*The Docu-Movie Touching the Void is the Godfather of all mountain climbing movies. Just watching this movie turned Roger Ebert into a quivering, blubbering mess. Touching the Void is a Docu-drama based on the calamitous events that occurred when Joe Simpson and Simon Yates attempted to ascend and descend the Siula Grande in Peru. Beyond all odds, Joe Simpson somehow survived this ordeal where he was presumed to be dead, in a reenactment that must be seen to be believed. Joe lost 1/3 of his body weight and the injuries to his leg were so severe that they required multiple surgeries over a period of 2 years. He was told that he would be lucky to ever walk again, much less climb. He did walk again and he did climb. He also wrote a couple of books and made two mind-blowing documentaries about mountain climbing tragedies. The Beckoning Silence (2007) is one of them.In The Beckoning Silence Joe Simpson traveled to the North Face of The Eiger to give an account of one of mountaineering's most deadly tragedies. This tragedy was the ill-fated expedition of Toni Kurz and his 3 companions in 1936. Joe Simpson methodically and carefully sets the stage for what will be a totally catastrophic revelation of horror midway through the documentary. Joe Simpson had been there before. Not at this exact time and place, but in about as a precarious and hopeless dilemma as you could ever rip from the bowels of an icy hell. I didn't want to watch it anymore. I wanted to just turn it off and look away, but I didn't. From the mid-point on, the viewer is riveted to this train wreck in the Alps, and yes, there is a train that plays a part in this real-life horror show.After the nightmarish and harrowing ordeal that he went through in Peru, for Joe Simpson to even write about the disaster of Eiger is amazing, much less to make a documentary about it. It was even more astounding for him to actually climb this mountain to the point where these four men died…I just don't have the words to describe this. This guy has a set that would make John Holmes look like a eunuch, but that's another story. The re-enactment by the actors was superb, as well as excruciatingly painful to watch, as you already know the outcome. The unforgiving attributes of Mother Nature were well known, and never had they been more unsympathetic than with this alpine terrain and its weather. Mother Nature has no Fairness Doctrine, only the cold, hard physics of the atmosphere and its lapidary counterparts. Granite is hard, water freezes at 0 degrees C., it is cold and slick, and gravity asserts itself every single time.Inches and details count, and Toni Kurz was only yards away from his rescuers when a knotty problem sealed his destiny with The Grim Reaper. I know that I have previously shown disdain for mountain climbers, and this outcome was very hard to watch and to accept, but it happened. This event had a significant impact on Joe Simpson and helped shape his life. "Why him and not me?" has never been a more soul-piercing reflection for Joe, who also dangled and danced with death at the end of a rope, while staring into the void below. If you believe in God, destiny, benevolent karma and fair play, don't watch this movie. If you want to see what nature is capable of, with with no malevolent intent whatsoever, watch this documentary.

In this docu-movie, Joe Simpson shows how to tell a true story in a modern, breathtaking way. He gives a description of events from outside but also from the inside, climbing part of the mountain (the well-known Eiger) himself. He goes deep in the characters feelings, just by comparing their emotions with his own. A story about mountaineers and the man behind the climber.Pretty influenced by the other awarded Simpson's movie "Touching the void", "The Beckoning Silence" is again a great narration about the risk, the hope, and the fragility of life.If you want to understand what climb a mountain means you have to see it. If you want to understand what be human means you have to see it.

The DVD version of this film also contains a spoiler within the extras ~ although I can forgive the great man himself as Chris Bonningtons interview is as honest and emotional as Joe's. In that interview Chris describes his own experience as photo journalist and reporter on the first 'Eiger Direct' expedition in the early 60's, when a climbing friend, John Harlin dies. This leads onto to some short research to find that John Harlins son makes an attempt on the Eiger himself, 40 years after his fathers death, in a film called 'The Alps' which I haven't seen yet but believe has the most breathtaking footage.Also, within the extras on the DVD is 'the making of', but in a way, whilst its interesting, I feel it kind of detracts from the superb acting and shooting in the the main film.

This documentary could have easily failed. If it had been based on the original book then it would have encapsulated too many different ideas to be coherent. It has therefore concentrated on two specific themes. The first is that of Joe Simpson's changing attitude towards the mountains and the Eiger specifically, from being able to enjoy and climb to that of withdrawing from the sport. The second is a more specific event, the 1936 attempt by four climbers on the face. This is explored through reconstructions of the events, and by visits to certain parts of the route by Joe himself to explain the difficulties. Joe Simpson comes across as quiet and thoughtful throughout, and, through his previous experiences, is really able to empathise with the plight of the climbers, particularly Toni Kurz.The technical work is smooth, with the camera shots and layout being very similar in style to "Touching the Void", which this documentary has been billed as the sequel to.