North Face [Blu-ray]

WILL HOLD YOU IN AN ICY, VISCERAL GRIP
I have a fear of heights.

I also have a new fear of being stranded on the side of a sheer cliff called "The Murder Wall" during a blizzard. This unexpected thriller, based on a true story, held me spellbound for it's just over two hour running time. I can't recall a more harrowing mountain adventure.

This riveting recreation is set in 1936, a short time before the famed (and notorious) Berlin Olympics which Hitler hoped to use as propaganda to tout the superiority of all things Nazi and Aryan. The worldwide news of Germans conquering this impossible, peak was a hoped-for event before the Olympics and something encouraged by the German press. Here two Germans -- Toni Kurz and Andreas Hinterstoisser -- confront "the last problem of the Alps": the Eiger's unclimbed North Face. They are closely followed up "The Murder Wall" by a competing Austrian team. But things go terribly wrong. The crowds and the press watch the ensuing, heart-stopping drama through...

Very convincing, high quality mountain drama
4.6 stars

It's a pleasure to watch a film that covers all the dramatic bases well. Nordwand starts pleasantly, introducing the characters one by one with subtle details that say volumes but with little effort. We get to know the people, and then the adventure begins. I could really feel for these guys, and for once the love story didn't seem tacked on; it plays out like an integral part of the movie.

In fact, the best performance here might be from Johana Wokalek, excellent as the young photographer---you can believe the love she portrays. But everyone is solid, and my only qualm might be that the last 30 minutes stretch a little too long, with too many tense close-ups etc. Still, the tension is real and I felt like I was there; the music is perfect, the sound of the snow and wind quite visceral, and I felt cold while watching this on a hot Texas night. That's good filmmaking.

It helped a lot that I didn't know the story ahead of time; if you also...

Why did they wreck a good thing??
I can't give this movie less than three stars-- on the mountain, the cinematography is superb and the acting outstanding. To watch these climbers set out strong, then engage in a long, grueling struggle, outfitted with 1930's gear and within sight of tourists below ... it's every bit as riveting as the 5-star reviews say.

And that is precisely why I'd love to sock them with only one star: the story itself is so incredible that it did not need falsifying or romancing. Can we truly not watch an adventure movie without a ridiculous and superfluous romance? And was the actual climb not gripping enough without false additions? The "competitors" were a 4-man team from the start; no living person cut himself off the rope (it was cut the next day, when the men who fell were beyond rescue and no longer responsive); no woman had to galvanize reluctant rescuers, they responded as a matter of course; and on.

If the filmmaker wants to include a fictional story, then the...

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