Discussion Topic |
|
This thread has been locked |
bergbryce
Mountain climber
East Bay, CA
|
|
I saw this Friday night. I thought it was good and I in general dislike watching movies. I went because it was a climbing movie and the trailer and movie description actually sounded pretty good.
I thought the climbing aspects of the film were well done aside from the inevitable pitons that worked themselves loose. They dealt with real issues that alpine climbers face, partner issues, weather, gear, etc. The camera work and scenery were amazing as were the special effects. I have no idea how they managed to make an avalanche appear so realistic on film.
I don't know all of the history of this route and to someone who does, it's probably a crappy movie. So ignorance can be bliss, at least in a movie theater.
The fluff factor was actually pretty damn' low (imho) which I appreciated. Not too much time was spent on issues outside of these two guys climbing the unclimbed north face of The Eiger. If you don't want any of that, I guess watch a documentary. This was a movie about climbing that wasn't a documentary and I felt it was pretty well done.
|
|
Jay Wood
Trad climber
Fairfax, CA
|
|
Also saw it Friday night- San Rafael.
Gripping, quite true to history (they added a girl, but works OK), tragic, NOT hollywood.
Excellent sound!
I came away with virtual frostbite.
|
|
rockermike
Trad climber
Berkeley
|
|
its playing in San Jose tonight (Friday 3/5/10); I think I'll go.
|
|
rockermike
Trad climber
Berkeley
|
|
just saw it;
mostly good, but I agree with comment up-thread that once they sacrifice historical accuracy for drama it loses its integrity. I actually don't know the real history exactly, but I don't think the girlfriend spent the night on the face waiting for her boy.
The other thing I note is the climbing techniques, while interesting, are so archaic that you can't really learn much from watching. The one takeaway for me was what the wall looks like in a storm. Not a good place to be - obviously.
|
|
tom woods
Gym climber
Bishop, CA
|
|
|
May 24, 2010 - 12:51pm PT
|
I saw it on netflix last night. Very good movie.
The love interest climbing out to spend the night with Kurz was distracting.
The rest was pretty good.
I can't find the White Spider, so I ask you forum folks- did Kurz and Hinterstoisser start out alone and then team up with the Austrians like in the movie, or was it always a team of four?
Also, was the team retreating because of the injury, lowering an injured man down the whole way?
|
|
phile
Trad climber
SF, CA
|
|
|
May 24, 2010 - 01:26pm PT
|
Tom--I read up on it on wikipedia after watching the movie. If I remember right, the FA attempt started as an austrian party and a german party, which then joined forces after the traverse (the rope had been left in place). The 2nd attempt, shown in the movie, actually started as a party of 4 on the ground.
Basically, they merged the two attempts--a lot of the pieces were based in truth, but spliced together from two different attempts to form a fictional story. I was disappointed to find that out.
|
|
tom woods
Gym climber
Bishop, CA
|
|
|
May 24, 2010 - 02:03pm PT
|
I figured there was artistic license taken.
I'll check the wiki stuff later.
Did they say anything about lowering an injured victim? From what I remember, people were injured but I don't know if they were lowering anybody.
|
|
Mason
Trad climber
Yay Area
|
|
|
May 24, 2010 - 02:21pm PT
|
I think we watched it on Netflix the other night. It was a pretty decent depiction of the historic means by which they climbed back then.
A little drama thrown in for you too.
|
|
John Mac
Trad climber
Littleton, CO
|
|
|
May 24, 2010 - 02:49pm PT
|
I watched this on Netflix (streaming) over the weekend. Make sure you check it out.
|
|
tom woods
Gym climber
Bishop, CA
|
|
|
May 24, 2010 - 03:34pm PT
|
The wikipedia thing on Hinterstoisser says that he was unclipped from the group when the avalanche hit. The movie shows him cutting the rope to save the team.
I would assume the movie made that part up, but why would he be unclipped.
Any of the climbing historians know?
|
|
tuolumne_tradster
Trad climber
Leading Edge of North American Plate
|
|
|
May 24, 2010 - 03:39pm PT
|
The movie is excellent from the perspective of re-creating 1930s vintage climbing methods & equipment and following the real events of this mother-of-all mountaineering epics. However the authenticity of the movie falls apart in the final 30 minutes. Why Bavarian director, Phillipp Stolz, decides to add a fictional romance to this film is beyond me. Also, my Bavarian wife, was disappointed that Stolz did not select a Bavarian actor to play Kurz, a Berchtesgadener. Instead he selected Benno Fürmann who speaks with a northern German accent.
|
|
tom woods
Gym climber
Bishop, CA
|
|
|
May 24, 2010 - 04:00pm PT
|
Del Cross thanks for that.
I feel like a chump cuz I don't have the white spider anymore, it got lost in a move I guess.
The movie showed that sequence more or less.
It was cool to see the gear in action. It looked like the climbers tied essentially chest/body harnesses rather than the bowline on the coil I thought they used.
The ropes looked pretty thinck, but I wondered if they covered modern ropes with something to make them look old.
There is a scene early on in the movie where hinterstoisser is swinging a pendulum and you can see the rope rubbing on the rock as he swings. It looked scary to me. I was scared for the stuntman.
|
|
Brian in SLC
Social climber
Salt Lake City, UT
|
|
|
May 24, 2010 - 04:36pm PT
|
Really enjoyed especially the period climbing and gear.
A couple of things I didn't think were accurate...
Didn't Kurz have crampons on, visible in a photo of his body or someone wrote about the icicles hanging off them?
"Ich kann nicht mehr". Can't believe they didn't include that as his last words. One of the more famous climbing quotes out there. Or, did I just miss it?
No way those guys bailed on their military duties. Given the times? Some revisionist history there for sure.
Good film though.
|
|
tom woods
Gym climber
Bishop, CA
|
|
|
May 24, 2010 - 04:43pm PT
|
I wondered about them quitting the Army too.
Since when can you quit the Army- any army.
|
|
Brian in SLC
Social climber
Salt Lake City, UT
|
|
|
May 24, 2010 - 05:52pm PT
|
I wondered why they chose to have Kurz climb without crampons in the film. What theatrical device was this exactly? It didn't detract too much from the movie; it just seemed weird.
I guess it slowed them down so the Austrians could catch up (which, historically on that fateful trip, they started together as a team).
But it did seem strange, and, they made a point of it. Must have been to show why the Austrians kept up? Rather than show the failed earlier attempt.
Another inaccuracy I thought about was watching them cut steps. They look like beginners. No way an experienced alpinist at that time didn't have step cutting dialed in. They were hackin' and whackin' like amateurs.
The German wiki site has some interesting info:
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toni_Kurz
|
|
Jaybro
Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
|
|
|
May 24, 2010 - 05:54pm PT
|
Is this playing anywhere now?
|
|
tom woods
Gym climber
Bishop, CA
|
|
|
May 24, 2010 - 05:54pm PT
|
so they had crampons? That was weird then, but also cool in a way.
As far as a theatrical device, it would seem to be the only people who would care about whether these guys had crampons or not would be climbers.
I think maybe they were trying to remake the point that crampons were somewhat new, or not widely used in the 30's? Harrer didn't have them right? While it seems crazy nowadays, those guys were used to cutting steps.
The movie seemed like it tried to re-create the climbing at the time. It looked good to me, but my hold on climbing History only goes back to chouinard camalots and Boreal lasers.
|
|
cintune
climber
the Moon and Antarctica
|
|
|
May 24, 2010 - 05:59pm PT
|
Netflix has it.
Those shoulder-belays were... interesting.
|
|
|
SuperTopo on the Web
|
Let us know!