Is it weird to like a record even though it reminds you, however faintly, of something you never liked very much? I only ask because I've been playing this new Iron & Wine record quite a lot this past couple of weeks.
Already a boys' own classic, Kevin MacDonald's award-winning doc about two foolhardy Brit mountaineers scaling the 21,000ft Andean peak of Peru's Siula Grande is almost hideously gripping. Brilliantly paced, Touching The Void re-enacts the climb—and the descent, more to the point—with actors Brendan Mackey and Nicholas Aaron. But much of the drama lies in the memories of climbers Joe Simpson and Simon Yates, the interviews with whom are candid and vulnerable.
OPENS DECEMBER 12, CERT 15, 106 MINS
In 1985, British mountaineers Joe Simpson and Simon Yates made a bold assault on the west face of Siula Grande in the Peruvian Andes. They became the first (and so far only) climbers to conquer it, but their triumph turned to purgatory as they tried to get down again. After Simpson broke his leg, Yates tried to lower him down the mountain by rope. They'd almost made it when Simpson slithered over a precipice, forcing Yates to cut the rope to save himself. Fantastically, Simpson survived and crawled back to base.
