Dynamixor
The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.
Fatma Suarez
The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful
Raymond Sierra
The film may be flawed, but its message is not.
lisahelenw
I spent several winters snow camping, going into California's Sierra Nevada on skis, and adored it, but I'm afraid of heights and never gave climbing the briefest consideration. The lure was impossible to grasp. (Women climb a different life-and-death peek in childbirth.) But I love survival stories, and this went further to explain risk-taking than anything I've encountered. Simpson's honesty about fear makes it a spellbinding spiritual epic. He attempts the same route that his inspiration as a lad had failed to complete, and in his narration uses language with the same care as his climbing gear. I get it now. Or maybe I don't - but listening tuo a man who uses English with such power is not a voice I'll soon forget. It's a love story between man and mountain, the bond forged among climbing partners, conquering fear yet knowing when to stop; the awe of death and the horror of loneliness.... I'm so glad he followed his considerable wisdom to find a route off his inner mountain into another rewarding career, He's at the top of his game - as a writer this time, expressing his experiences of loss and grief and passion for life without a drop of sentimentality. It's poetic exactness with Shakespearean depth.(N.B. Improvement in the directing could (will?) make it one of the great documentaries. I wasn't sure at times which team we were following (a helicopter in the 1930's?).and something as simple as a notice saying "50 years later" would have helped. Or I was just being a moron! :o)
Mario Germani
In this docu-movie, Joe Simpson shows how to tell a true story in a modern, breathtaking way. He gives a description of events from outside but also from the inside, climbing part of the mountain (the well-known Eiger) himself. He goes deep in the characters feelings, just by comparing their emotions with his own. A story about mountaineers and the man behind the climber.Pretty influenced by the other awarded Simpson's movie "Touching the void", "The Beckoning Silence" is again a great narration about the risk, the hope, and the fragility of life.If you want to understand what climb a mountain means you have to see it. If you want to understand what be human means you have to see it.
Graham Bentley
The DVD version of this film also contains a spoiler within the extras ~ although I can forgive the great man himself as Chris Bonningtons interview is as honest and emotional as Joe's. In that interview Chris describes his own experience as photo journalist and reporter on the first 'Eiger Direct' expedition in the early 60's, when a climbing friend, John Harlin dies. This leads onto to some short research to find that John Harlins son makes an attempt on the Eiger himself, 40 years after his fathers death, in a film called 'The Alps' which I haven't seen yet but believe has the most breathtaking footage.Also, within the extras on the DVD is 'the making of', but in a way, whilst its interesting, I feel it kind of detracts from the superb acting and shooting in the the main film.
bob the moo
As a child it was the story of Tony Kurtz's attempt to climb the north face of the Eiger that first introduced Joe Simpson to the world of climbing. After his near-fatal accident in Peru, Simpson comes back to the story of Kurtz's mission and considers what he has in common with the climber who once inspired him. Using a mix of dramatic recreation and narration, Simpson tells the story of Kurtz's team and also attempts to do some parts of the original climb himself.I'm not a climber and indeed am not good at even basic heights so I am not target audience for Simpson's books or the film adaptations thereof. Watching people die or nearly die while climbing for sport or fun always seems to me to be a waste of life, just as any death in a high-risk sport or hobby strikes me. This doesn't mean I think it is stupid to do it (we all take risks) but just that I do have this in the back of my head while watching this sort of story. I imagine it is maybe down to the individual but certainly the main thing I got from Kurtz's story was confirmation that I'm not cut out for this activity and I cannot relate to Simpson, who takes it as an inspiration to do it himself.So the challenge with this is to make me, the casual viewer, buy into the adventure and be hooked by the story. It worked with Touching The Void and it works again here. Taking pretty much the same approach as that film did, The Beckoning Silence tells a fascinating and tragic story and does it in a way that will engage viewers even when the "why" issue is hanging around in the background. The recreation of the climb is good and avoids the hammy acting that some docu-dramas fall victim to. Simpson also goes to the Eiger for some of his narration but I'm not sure if something happened while he was there because the film makes very little use of this aspect and it could easily have done without it. Simpson's greater impact is as narrator to camera. He does well to bring his passion to the screen and convey it to the viewer – a big part of the film engaging me as it did.Overall then this is a good film that will appeal to the majority of viewers who like Touching The Void. Of course those that see climbing as a pointlessly dangerous pursuit may struggle to get past this but mostly the film does well to engage and draw the viewer into the world as Simpson sees it.
