Kevin Macdonald
La Morte Sospesa

Peruvian Andes, 1985: two English climbers, Joe Simpson and Simon Yates (aged twenty-five and twenty-one respectively) decide to tackle the, until then, unclaimed west face of Siula Grande (altitude 6344 meters) by the direct route, meaning the alpine method: without setting up intermediate camps and without first placing pitons or securing ropes (as the Himalayan method usually requires).

It's a very tough challenge, with themselves and the mountain, which the two boys manage to complete successfully, an endeavor that in itself deserves a film. On the way down to the valley, however, something happens: Joe falls and breaks a knee, he cannot continue the descent, so Simon decides to lower him as "dead weight," ninety meters at a time along the mountain's slope. But even here, something goes wrong: an unforeseen overhang leaves Joe suspended in the void, attached to his friend only by the safety rope.

Simon cannot know if Joe is alive or dead, but for more than an hour he tries, at the risk of his own life, to hold onto his friend and, at the same time, anchor himself to the fresh snow under his feet to avoid falling. When the situation becomes desperate, Simon finds himself at a crossroads: continue holding the rope until exhaustion leads them both to certain death, or try to save at least himself? Simon decides to cut the rope and, overwhelmed by guilt, returns to base camp. But Joe, miraculously, isn't dead. After falling twenty-five meters, he lands inside a crevasse in the glacier. Here begins his three-day odyssey: crawling on the snow and "hopping" over rocks, without water or food, he incredibly manages to reach the tent and safety. Once back home, Simon Yates will be accused of grave misconduct. Joe Simpson, to exonerate him, recounted the adventure in a book: "Touching the Void" (Touching the Void), published in Italy by Cda&Vivald, from which the film was made.

I am neither passionate about mountains nor climbing; the mere idea of having to take four flights of stairs without an elevator bothers me, but I've rarely found myself so involved in a film. The technique chosen by the author Kevin Macdonald (director of the Oscar-winning documentary "One Day in September" and "The Last King of Scotland") is that of docu-drama: we will see two actors playing Joe and Simon as they accomplish their exceptional feat, commented on (sometimes off-screen, sometimes in close-up) by the three protagonists (the third is Richard Hawking, an English student recruited in Lima by our heroes to watch over the tent until their return), and it is here that the power of this work lies.

The camera, in the first part, allows itself long shots, gentle movements, and majestic and poetic panoramas, only to become more and more restless in the second part: abrupt movements, sometimes fast, sometimes excruciating rhythms, subjective and semi-subjective shots, suggesting to us the claustrophobia, despair, delirium, and the fight against time that passes too quickly and distances that are too great.

Watching this splendid film, I felt powerless and angry like Simon when he cut the rope, desperate like Joe when he realized he was alone, a small man facing the cruel majesty of six thousand meters of snow, ice, and rock. With him, I suffered thirst, pain, anger, hunger, and cold.

Even though I knew from the start how the story ended (Joe is still alive to tell it), I truly despaired with him, seeing him delirious from dehydration or when calling Simon and hearing no response, I sighed with relief when Simon and Richard emerged from the darkness to bring him back to life. ("Here I died; I lost everything I was and wanted to be. And then I was reborn.")

In my opinion, Joe Simpson is a hero, and that's that.