| Photos (see all 15 | slideshow) |
| Brendan Mackey | ... | Joe Simpson | |
| Nicholas Aaron | ... | Simon Yates | |
| Richard Hawking | ... | Himself | |
| Joe Simpson | ... | Himself | |
| Simon Yates | ... | Himself | |
| Ollie Ryall | ... | Richard Hawking |
Directed by | |||
| Kevin Macdonald | |||
Writing credits(in alphabetical order) | ||
| Joe Simpson | book | |
Produced by | |||
| Charles Furneaux | .... | executive producer | |
| Robin Gutch | .... | executive producer | |
| Gina Marsh | .... | line producer | |
| John Smithson | .... | producer | |
| Paul Sowerbutts | .... | associate producer | |
| Sue Summers | .... | co-producer | |
| Paul Trijbits | .... | executive producer | |
| Paul Webster | .... | chief executive procuder: FilmFour | |
Original Music by | |||
| Alex Heffes | |||
Cinematography by | |||
| Mike Eley | |||
| Keith Partridge | |||
Film Editing by | |||
| Justine Wright | |||
Casting by | |||
| Susie Figgis | |||
Production Design by | |||
| Patrick Bill | |||
Art Direction by | |||
| Patrick Bill | |||
Costume Design by | |||
| Patrick Bill | |||
Makeup Department | |||
| Sarita Allison | .... | makeup designer | |
Production Management | |||
| Emma Clarke | .... | executive in charge of production: film council | |
| Peter McAleese | .... | executive in charge of production | |
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director | |||
| Nick Laws | .... | first assistant director | |
Art Department | |||
| Giles Asbury | .... | storyboard artist | |
Sound Department | |||
| Tim Alban | .... | sound re-recording mixer | |
| Robert Brazier | .... | foley editor | |
| Felicity Cottrell | .... | foley artist | |
| Richard Davey | .... | assistant sound re-recording mixer | |
| Mick Duffield | .... | sound recordist | |
| Anthony Faust | .... | adr foley mixer | |
| Anthony Faust | .... | foley supervisor | |
| Joakim Sundström | .... | supervising sound editor | |
| Mark Kenna | .... | consultant: Dolby film sound (uncredited) | |
Special Effects by | |||
| Martin Neill | .... | special effects | |
Visual Effects by | |||
| Matthias Albrecht | .... | digital film editor | |
| Simon Burley | .... | software and technical | |
| Ben Haworth | .... | digital effects artist | |
Stunts | |||
| David Cuthbertson | .... | climbing stunt double | |
| Rory Gregory | .... | climbing stunt double | |
Camera and Electrical Department | |||
| Oliver Driscoll | .... | second assistant camera | |
| Olly Driscoll | .... | clapper loader | |
| Christian Klehr | .... | grip | |
| Ralph Kulike | .... | gaffer | |
| Dan Shoring | .... | additional photographer | |
| Dan Shoring | .... | first assistant camera | |
| Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert | .... | unit photographer: Alps | |
| Chris Thornton | .... | film recorder operator | |
| Simon Wagen | .... | additional climbing photographer (as Simon Hagen) | |
Casting Department | |||
| Indira Ashton | .... | casting assistant | |
Editorial Department | |||
| Stephen Barker | .... | post-production consultant | |
| Simon Brook | .... | on-line editor | |
| Ben Lester | .... | assistant editor | |
| Vincent Narduzzo | .... | colorist | |
| Kevin Phelan | .... | head of post-production: Lip Sync Post | |
| Jon Thompson | .... | post-production consultant | |
Music Department | |||
| Abi Leland | .... | music supervisor | |
| Andy Richards | .... | score mixer | |
| Bevan Smith | .... | composer: electronic music | |
Other crew | |||
| Olly Allen | .... | climbing support: Alps | |
| Kim Ballard | .... | production financing | |
| Christine Barnes | .... | climbing support: Alps | |
| Christine Baxter-Jones | .... | production team | |
| Hattie Bowering | .... | final delivery and release supervisor | |
| Lesley Brown | .... | production team | |
| Eduardo Shuán Caldúa | .... | climbing support: Peru | |
| Melorie Chilton | .... | legal services for darlow smithson productions | |
| Hugo Milla Chinchay | .... | climbing support: Peru | |
| David Cuthbertson | .... | key mountain guide | |
| David Cuthbertson | .... | safety team | |
| Lucy Daniels | .... | production team | |
| Regine Dura | .... | production team | |
| John Falkiner | .... | key mountain guide | |
| John Falkiner | .... | safety team | |
| Michael Fleisher | .... | business affairs: Channel 4 International | |
| Néstor Morales Flores | .... | trekking leader: Peru | |
| Laura Franses | .... | physical production coordinator: FilmFour | |
| Paul Gardner | .... | archive researcher | |
| Rory Gregory | .... | key mountain guide | |
| Rory Gregory | .... | safety team | |
| Paul Grindey | .... | business affairs: FilmFour | |
| Brian Hall | .... | head mountain guide | |
| Nion Hazell | .... | production coordinator | |
| Andrew Hildebrand | .... | business affairs: FilmFour | |
| Vinnie Holden | .... | head of production finance: film council | |
| Marcelino Milla Huarac | .... | climbing support: Peru | |
| Vicky Jones | .... | business affairs: Channel 4 | |
| Jim Kerr | .... | climbing support: Alps | |
| François Marsigny | .... | climbing support: Alps | |
| Deborah McLaughlan | .... | production team | |
| Jesús Montero | .... | production team | |
| Paul Moores | .... | key mountain guide | |
| Paul Moores | .... | safety team | |
| Pelayo Milla Morales | .... | climbing support: Peru | |
| Fiona Morham | .... | head of physical production: film council | |
| Eloy Salazar Obregón | .... | climbing support: Peru | |
| Rodolfo Reyes Oropeza | .... | climbing support: Peru | |
| Emma Parsons | .... | production team | |
| James Reekie | .... | production accountant | |
| Dr. Martin Rhodes | .... | unit doctor | |
| Tim Rhodes | .... | climbing support: Alps | |
| Faye Richardson | .... | production team | |
| Ollie Ryall | .... | climbing support: Alps | |
| Juan Sánchez | .... | climbing support: Peru | |
| Joe Simpson | .... | additional reconstruction | |
| Joe Simpson | .... | consultant | |
| Gillian Strachan | .... | production team | |
| Ulla Streib | .... | head of production: Darlow Smithson Productions | |
| Gareth Tansey | .... | title designer | |
| Harry Taylor | .... | key mountain guide | |
| Harry Taylor | .... | safety team | |
| Jorge Clemente Vargas | .... | climbing support: Peru | |
| Howard Watkins | .... | title designer | |
| John N. Whittle | .... | key mountain guide (as John Whittle) | |
| John N. Whittle | .... | safety team (as John Whittle) | |
| Marc Wolff | .... | aerial coordinator | |
| Simon Yates | .... | additional reconstruction | |
| Michael J. Harker | .... | completion bond company representative (uncredited) | |
Thanks | |||
| Richard Hawking | .... | thanks | |
| Adrian Warren | .... | thanks | |
| Paul Webster | .... | thanks | |
| Marc Wolff | .... | thanks | |
| Simon Yates | .... | thanks | |
| Marc Ziegler | .... | thanks | |
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You'll be lucky if you have any cuticles left by the time you've finished watching `Touching the Void,' a nail-biting documentary that chronicles a true-life tale of miraculous survival. In 1985, two experienced mountain climbers, Simon Yates and Joe Simpson, set out to scale a peak in the Peruvian Andes. Although they successfully reached the summit, disaster struck as they were making their way back down. In the midst of a blinding blizzard, Joe slipped and broke his leg. The film, based on the book by Joe Simpson himself, recounts the grueling ordeal both men underwent in their efforts to make it back to their base camp alive.
To fully dramatize the experience, director Kevin MacDonald filmed one-on-one interviews with the two survivors (as well as a third companion who didn't go up the mountain with them) commenting and reflecting on the event, then employed actors to reenact the event as it originally happened. MacDonald has done an astonishing job capturing the edge-of-the-seat suspense inherent in the material, this despite the fact that we already know how it will all turn out. By plunging us directly into the heart of the action, we feel we are enduring every death-defying, heartbreaking moment right along with Joe and Simon. `Touching the Void' is, if nothing else, a tour-de-force of breathtaking cinematography and stunt work, one that makes us identify with the characters every step of the way.
Yet, for all its technical expertise, `Touching the Void' is, first and foremost, a human document, a testament to the endurance and survivability of both the human body and the human spirit. The amazing determination and perseverance demonstrated by the two men - especially by the then 25-year-old Joe as he struggles manfully, despite unendurable pain, to reach a place of safety - is inspiring even to those of us who do most of our adventuring from the comfort and safety of our living room armchair, a cold beer in hand. The film also reveals, through their actions and their words twenty some years later, the character of the two men. Simon has to live with the fact that, at a crucial moment in the crisis, he cut Joe loose from his line, consigning his partner to probable death so that he himself could survive an action for which many fellow mountaineers later criticized Simon. Yet, never once either then or now does Joe join in that criticism. On the psychological level, we learn of the cavalcade of emotions and feelings Joe underwent in those moments of greatest desperation when he looked impending death square in the face. This film is as much an adventure of the mind as it is of the body. Paradoxically, at the same time as the film is showing us the indomitableness of the human spirit, it is reminding us how much we humans even the most daring among us are, ultimately, at the mercy of a far greater, impersonal and indifferent force known as Nature.
Thanks to the compelling, stranger-than-fiction quality of the tale and the technical brilliance used to re-create it, `Touching the Void' will have you chewing your fingernails down to a nub.