The survival genre of documentary has seen consistent releases for decades, primarily on television with heavy hitters like I Survived... and I Shouldn't Be Alive. A wealth of shows have a similar formula of retelling harrowing survival stories, and even more following the lives of those in dangerous occupations, like Ice Road Truckers and Deadliest Catch. People enjoy watching people in life-or-death situations from the comfort and safety of their homes. 1000 Ways To Die aside, watching people not make it out alive can get a bit ghoulish. Survival stories are terror mixed in with triumph and become more complex when factoring in the accrued injuries and trauma that ultimately come with them. There's always a story there, which becomes perfect fodder for re-enactments and documentary filmmaking, with the best example of the genre being the 2003 film Touching the Void.
Directed by Kevin Macdonald, Touching the Void follows the story and lives of two climbers, Joe Simpson and Simon Yates. As experienced mountaineers and climbing companions, they faced their biggest challenge yet in 1985: ascending the western face of Peru's Siula Grande, becoming the first to make it to the top and back. Picking up the newbie climber Richard Hawkins along the way, making it up to the summit, although grueling, was successful; going back down would be an entirely different tale, bringing us to the crux of the documentary. Joe, Richard, and Simon take the audience through the methods of mountain climbing as they describe their climb up, but during their descend to base camp, things take a turn for the worse. After breaking his leg in a previous fall, Joe plummets and finds himself stuck in a crevasse. A great adventure turns into a fight to survive, and a story successful enough to become a best-selling novel written by Simpson, a West End stage adaptation (no, seriously), and a documentary that makes for a more stressful watch than many horror films.
'Touching the Void' Shows the Morbid Reality of Mountain Climbing
Even in 1985, in their 20s, Simpson and Yates were veterans on the rocks, but even this didn't save them from error. This is the grizzly and terrifying reality of mountain climbing presented in Touching the Void. While it is an exhilarating hobby for outdoorsy daredevils and thrill-seekers, it's also a very easy way to get seriously hurt or worse. Up there on the cliffs you're at the temperamental will of nature and gravity combined. Whether you're hiking the Swiss Alps or the Peruvian Andes, it can quickly reach below-zero temperatures, with any exposed skin quickly succumbing to frostbite. Where there's snow, there's slippery yet rock-hard ice. If a climber loses their footing, that could result in a broken limbs or even death. The higher you get, the thinner the oxygen is, with especially high climbs requiring supplementary air to breathe. If anything fails for even a second, whether it be a technical or human error, you run the risk of meeting the end of the road.
That's why Mount Everest is the graveyard of snowsuits it is today. If you get stuck badly enough, it is highly likely no one will be able to come get you. Everything is harder, even keeping yourself hydrated, and if you make it to the top you have to turn around and make it back down, roughing it the whole way. That's why Yates and Simpson do it — the risk made them feel more alive, and the addictive summit fever it elicited was indescribable. The footage of the reenacted scenes that play over the real climbers' voices shows the painstaking process of climbing through extreme close-ups and excellent camera work. The makeup and sound design accentuate how cold it is, only heightening the tension and uneasiness. These feelings are already cemented, and then Joe has his fall.
Truth Can Be More Cinematic Than Fiction
What works best about Touching the Void is how organic the story is, while relying on nothing but the truth. There's a clear A and B plot here when Joe and Simon become separated. Joe is in that crevasse alone, with the agony of a broken bone accentuated by the cold, stuck in the dark and severely dehydrated, while his mind slips away from him. This is the main survival story, which makes sense considering it's Joe's book that is the source material. He describes in excruciating detail that three-day slog to find a base camp that might not even be there. The film continues its fantastic use of reenacted scenes with Brendan Mackey starring as the young Joe Simpson, portraying his desperate struggle as his body deteriorates.
Simon, played by Nicholas Aaron, loses his grip on his partner. While he didn't cause Joe's accident, he was in just as much danger when trying to help. He couldn't prevent it, nor could he find any sign of him when he descended. In those three days, Yates had the firm belief that his companion, his friend, someone who put his trust in him, was dead. He and Richard remained at base camp, riddled with survivor's guilt, until Joe somehow makes it back mere hours before they were going to leave. Touching the Void is a prime example of not only the best features of survival documentaries, but the survival genre in general. Two highly competent but unwaveringly human protagonists, a situation that looked impossible to overcome, and the painful truth of how difficult overcoming it was.
Touching the Void
- Release Date
- September 5, 2003
- Runtime
- 106 Minutes
- Director
- Kevin Macdonald
Cast
-
Brendan MackeyJoe Simpson -
Nicholas AaronSimon Yates
-
Ollie RyallRichard Hawking
WHERE TO WATCH
Touching the Void (2003) chronicles the harrowing adventure of two climbers striving to summit the previously unconquered west face of Siula Grande in the Peruvian Andes. The film combines documentary interviews with dramatic reenactments to depict their perilous journey, highlighting themes of survival, determination, and the human spirit under extreme adversity.
- Main Genre
- Documentary
Touching the Void is available to stream on Netflix.
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