Formula: The Walk / Man on Wire
Maybe I should back up. Free solo climbing means
climbing without a rope or any safety equipment. It is incredibly dangerous, to
say the least. El Capitan is 3000 foot almost entirely vertical granite
monolith that is a popular climb for advanced climbers. Alex Honnold is a
pretty famous mountain climber who has a reputation for doing free solo climbs.
Normally, he does these without telling anyone beforehand. The planned El
Capitan climb is one that he's agreeing to have his friends (professional
climbers/cameramen) record. My apologies if I overuse the word "insane".
It's my predominant opinion of most of this.
There's an interesting documentary by itself just
about Alex Honnold. He is a fascinating character. He lives in a van (by choice
- he's pretty well-off financially). He is a charming guy, but his monofocus on
climbing gets in the way of everything else. He has an incredibly understanding
girlfriend who is slowly (glacially) breaking down his defenses. We learn about
his family life growing up. His dad died several years ago and his mother is a
perfectionist and emotionally withholding (i.e. meeting her explains a lot
about Alex). If Free Solo was just 90 minutes of interviews with the
occasional cut to archival material about Honnold's successes, then it would've
been a perfectly enjoyable documentary.
What sets it over the edge is the El Capitan climb
footage. I missed the movie when it first came to theaters. Thanks to a quiet
box office period and the Oscar nomination for the movie, I got a chance to
check this movie out this weekend in XD and I'm glad I did. The angles this
movie gets, showing him climb where you can see 2000 feet below him, are a
sight to behold. There are some extraordinary close-ups. I was all in right
away. The last time I remember being this caught up in the moment with a movie was
when I saw the tightrope scene in The Walk. But this
footage is real.
I'll admit, I'm a little morally conflicted about
the movie. It's only watchable as long as Honnold doesn't die. In fact, if he
dies on another free solo climb in the future, I'm not sure I could go back and
watch this. Free solo climbing is stupid dangerous. Watching this movie made me
feel complicit in something wrong. I don't really want to encourage people to
try this. Glorifying Honnold implicitly condones the activity though. I think
what I've settled on is this: as long as he already did it, I guess I have to
be fine with it. My concern can't prevent him from climbing El Capitan, so I
should just appreciate that something so crazy was caught on film. By all accounts,
Honnold would've done it whether it was recorded or not. You can't stop crazy.
This was one of the best experiences seeing a movie
I've ever had in terms of pure engagement. I was totally into the suspense. I
laughed nervously. I looked away when things got intense. I'm certain I let out
a "No fucking way" at some point. I'm terrified of heights which
added to the tension. I recommend that anyone see this in theaters if they can.
It demands the biggest screen possible. I never thought I'd say that about a
documentary, but it's true here. This is the sequel to Man on Wire
that I never figured I'd get. My praise doesn't get much higher than that.
Verdict (?): Strongly Recommend
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