IMDb > Touching the Void (2003)
Touching the Void
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Touching the Void (2003) More at IMDbPro »

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Touching the Void (2003) -- Trailer
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Overview

User Rating:
8.1/10   10,647 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?

Up 20% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.

Director:

Kevin Macdonald

Writer:

Joe Simpson (book)

Contact:

View company contact information for Touching the Void on IMDbPro.

Release Date:

12 December 2003 (UK) more

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

Plot Keywords:

more

Awards:

5 wins & 7 nominations more

User Comments:

Gripping from Start to Finish 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
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Additional Details

MPAA:

Rated R for language.

Runtime:

106 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1 more

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital


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. more

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: After Joe pulls the rope completely down while in the crevasse, the cut rope end is frayed. Later when looking at the rope end again, it's a nice clean cut. more

Quotes:

Simon Yates: rather than just sit here, feeling sorry for myself or whatever, I'll get on with it and I'll die on the way down. more

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Touching the Void: Return to Siula Grande (2004) (V) more

Soundtrack:

Brown Girl in the Ring more


FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
17 out of 21 people found the following comment useful.
Gripping from Start to Finish, 2 August 2004
9/10
Author: Philby-3 from Sydney, Australia

There are exceptions, but mountaineering movies fall roughly into two classes; overblown, unrealistic cliffhanging (in more than one sense) dramas ('Eiger Sanction', 'K2', 'Cliffhanger', 'Vertical Limit') and rather trite descriptive documentaries often seen as padding for the 'National Geographic' channel schedules, although Jon Krakaur's 'Into Thin Air' managed to combine the worst of both worlds. Both classes have in common (usually) Gortex gear, superb mountain scenery and splendid cinematography. What distinguishes this survival story is that it has (sorry about this) high drama, an understated style and absolute authenticity. The actual principals, Joe Simpson and Simon Yates, and Richard Hawkins the non-climber base camp minder, narrate their story as it is re-enacted, partly at the original site in Peru (though some filming was done in the European Alps), while actors (with very few lines to say) re-enact the saga of the Siula West Face climb. It all hangs together beautifully; and I was rapt from go to whoa. My disbelief was entirely suspended.

Even documentaries are stories rather than fact (whatever that is) and this story is superbly told, for which director Kevin Macdonald can take full credit, though perhaps one should also thank Simon Yates and Joe Simpson for telling us their stories. One critic has taken the director to task in not dwelling on the moral issues involved – the cutting the rope bit. No mountaineering drama is without one of these but here it actually happened. That critic has missed the point – the approach here is 'be your own judge'.

This film manages to appeal both to mountaineers (a small but highly critical audience) and non-mountaineers. As a (semi-retired) and undistinguished member of the former group, I found few nits to pick, though a more extended explanation of the difference between Alpine-style and Expedition climbing would help to show non-mountaineers that it wasn't a suicide attempt (though speaking for myself I wouldn't have tried it with less than four in the party). And as the film was about a climb that went wrong, the joy of climbing, which is not easy to explain to non-mountaineers was rather overshadowed by Joe's suffering as he dragged himself, leg broken, down the mountain. But never have I seen a more graphic illustration of the adage 'never give up'. Lie down to die and you will die. Joe and the Texan doctor on Everest (see 'Into Thin Air') both should have died, yet they survived. In the doctor's case it seems to have been some primeval instinct (he was not a mountaineer). In Joe's case he seems to have treated survival as a challenge and focused his thoughts accordingly ('I thought, in twenty minutes I'll be at the next rock'). I winced every time his broken leg hit something.

To sum up this is a great film, which will live long in your memory, climber or non-climber.

P.S. Simon was only 20 or so at the time, Joe a more mature 25. Both have kept climbing, though significantly not together.

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Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for Touching the Void (2003)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
Any idea why the director is a bad guy? delcater
Why doesn't Joe cut the rope? evejeune
How did the camera guy get up there k00ldude
Superb! ChaseWolf
hummm... Do you think Joe exaggerated the facts a bit? barrs6
A great compliment to the book aerophex1
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