Feb
12
After weeks of checking the movie listings of every independent theater in Seattle, I finally tracked down and saw North Face (Nordwand, 2008). The promotional material for the film described it as being about two German mountaineers who, in anticipation of the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, are provoked to climb the north face of the Eiger in order to further prove the supremacy of the Aryan race. The Eiger is a danger out of this world. The formidable north face juts 1,800 meters out of the Bernese Alps and has earned the name of the "murder wall" on account of the great number of climbers dying in attempt to scale its rugged and icy ascent.
During their climb, Tony and Andi, the film's central characters, are joined by a competing Austrian team. While I anticipated a story full of adventure and foreign politics, the film also contains a romantic subplot that many find unbelievable and unnecessary. I accepted it as a much-needed stress reliever. The drama and suspense of the action sequences themselves left me shaky, sweaty and moderately nauseated. (No, boyfriend, you will have to reconsider this cockamamie plan of yours to climb Mt. Rainier.) It doesn't take a check on the Wikipedia entry to know that the climb does not end well. The movie is built on a true story, though it appears that it incorporates elements from actual climbs in 1938 and 1957 (one successful and, the other, not so). Also, many of the details must be imagined due to the fact that foggy weather obscured the face from hotel-deck spectators, so no one can truly know what happened to the group.
As Matt pointed out to me, the movie is built on "what-ifs" and "if-onlys." Each step the climbers make represents, both literally and figuratively, a decision made -- or not made -- and a path not taken. Leave it to the Germans to make a film so gut-wrenching, so horrific and so delicate in its relation to everyday life (for us non-Alpinists, at least).
And for those who are avid mountaineers, you will find it an interesting study of how drastically sports equipment and technology have since advanced. These men sleep in canvas sacks and climb in what appear to be Alpaca fleece mittens.
North Face will be coming to the Detroit Institute of Arts on March 12-14, 2010.
Note: Don't get me wrong, I found it to be a wonderful film. If you take delight in films of physical and emotional hardships that you will (hopefully) never have to face yourself, then I can promise you that you will enjoy this one.
