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Touching the Void (2003)
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Overview
User Rating:
Director:
Writer:
Joe Simpson (book)
Release Date:
12 December 2003 (UK)
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Genre:
Tagline:
The closer you are to death. The more you realize you are alive. more
Plot:
The true story of two climbers and their perilous journey up the west face of Siula Grande in the Peruvian Andes in 1985. full summary | add synopsis
Awards:
5 wins
&
7 nominations
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NewsDesk:
(10 articles)
Danny Boyle to Direct Stranded Mountaineer Story 127 Hours
(From FilmJunk. 5 November 2009, 2:15 PM, PST)
Searchlight and Boyle Have '127' Hours To Go
(From ioncinema. 5 November 2009)
(From FilmJunk. 5 November 2009, 2:15 PM, PST)
Searchlight and Boyle Have '127' Hours To Go
(From ioncinema. 5 November 2009)
User Comments:
Remarkable courage and determination
more (137 total)
Cast
(Credited cast) | Brendan Mackey | ... | Joe Simpson |
 | Nicholas Aaron | ... | Simon Yates |
| Richard Hawking | ... | Himself |
| Joe Simpson | ... | Himself |
| Simon Yates | ... | Himself |
| Ollie Ryall | ... | Richard Hawking |
Additional Details
MPAA:
Rated R for language.
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
106 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Certification:
Iceland:12 |
Argentina:13 |
Australia:M |
Germany:12 |
Netherlands:MG6 |
Singapore:NC-16 |
Switzerland:7 (canton of Geneva) |
Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud) |
UK:15 |
USA:R
Filming Locations:
Company:
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
Some of the long distance shots of Simon and Joe climbing the mountain are played not by the lead actors, but by body doubles, who were Simon Yates and Joe Simpson themselves.
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Goofs:
Anachronisms: Joe wears a model of Cebe glacier glasses that didn't enter production until 2001.
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Quotes:
Joe Simpson:
I didn't put a knot into the end of the rope. If there was nothing down there, I would fall, and it would be quick.
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Movie Connections:
Referenced in The Making of 'Touching the Void' (2003) (TV)
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Soundtrack:
Brown Girl in the Ring
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FAQ
This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.more (137 total)
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Based on the best-selling book of the same name, Kevin Macdonald's docu-drama Touching the Void recreates the 1985 experience of Joe Simpson and Simon Yates, two British mountaineers attempting to climb the Siula Grande Mountains of Peru, a mountain range no one had ever succeeded in scaling before. The film tells the story of how Simpson, alone at 21,000 feet -- with a broken leg, dehydrated, and a step away from death, pushed his broken body beyond the limits of what he knew to be possible in order to survive. Oscar-winning director of One Day in September, Macdonald uses actors Brendan Mackay (Simpson) and Nicholas Aaron (Yates) to recreate the adventure while the real climbers provide a running commentary.
After ascending the west face of the mountain in 3 1/2 days using the "purest" style of climbing (sleeping in ice caves rather than setting up base camps along the way), the descent is treacherous as Simpson misses a step and his lower leg is driven into his kneecap. Tied together by a rope, Yates begins lowering his partner downward in the darkness, 300 feet at a time while Simpson is in excruciating pain. Progress is halted when Simpson is lowered into a crevasse and left dangling in mid-air, unable to signal his companion. Yates believes him to be dead and makes a crucial and controversial decision to cut the rope, leaving his partner alone and without support. Simpson has never blamed Yates for his decision and has gone to great lengths in his book and in interviews to defend Simon whose character has been continually under attack since that fateful day.
The film was shot in authentic locations in the Andes and the Alps, and the result is a sense of being there, experiencing the pitiless forces of nature. Though the outcome is preordained, how the two friends managed to survive their ordeal provides more than enough heart-pounding suspense. The film shows Simpson trying to knot a rope with frozen fingers and guzzling the first muddy water he finds to counter the effects of severe dehydration. One of the most intriguing sequences shows the climber in a semi-delirious state listening in his mind to the sound of Boney M's Brown Girl in the Ring.
While there is little in the way of spiritual epiphany (Simpson candidly discusses his atheism), there is an unmistakable feeling that both men have been strengthened by their shared ordeal. Simpson touches the void within him, an emptiness that compels him to keep going only because he "wanted to be with someone when I died". Reaching base camp in the middle of the night, he calls out but no one answers, `When no one answered the call", he says, "I lost something. I lost me.' Then, when Simon and Richard rescue him, the thing he remembers most is the feeling of being held. Though he did not experience a higher power guiding him, he does sense a freedom from the world's clutter that makes him feel more alive. Touching the Void is a tale of remarkable courage and determination that touches the place within ourselves that tells us that miracles can occur in our life if we are able to go beyond what we thought was possible and act as if our life depends on the result.