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Author
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Topic: Free Solo
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Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."
Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001
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posted 03-11-2019 10:19 PM
Cinema: AMC Patriot 13, Lawton, OK
Screen: #7, IMAX Digital, Seats J15 & J16
Format: Dual 2K Projection, 5.1 audio
Presentation Problems: None
Movie Rating: 4 out of 4
This is kind of a late review since I watched this movie a few weeks ago. I had been wanting to see this documentary since it was first released last September. Cynthia and I watched the show on our local IMAX with Xenon screen since it had a one week run following the announcement of Oscar nominations. It seemed like a good idea to watch this on a big movie screen.
In case anyone is not already familiar with the story, Free Solo is a documentary about Alex Honnold, an elite climber who set out to become the first person to free-climb the 3000' tall face of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park. No ropes, cams or any other climbing hardware. No partners either. It was all about scaling that giant cliff face free solo with just with his hands and feet (and a fanny pack filled with chalk) all alone.
I thought it was one of the most fascinating documentaries I've ever seen. At first glance one might think Alex Honnold is some insane guy doing something absolutely crazy to get attention. Much of the feature is spent showing how Honnold and the camera crew meticulously trained and prepped for this climb. They knew this feat was dangerous as hell to attempt. But it was still do-able once they figured out how to do it right. Part of that was the camera crew figuring out how to position themselves and their camera gear so it didn't distract Alex during the climb. Several other elite free-solo climbers are mentioned in this documentary, some of whom Alex Honnold knew. Most of those climbers are now dead. One tiny mistake is all it takes to end everything. That added another layer of tension to this show. Honnold comes across as a very likable, yet extremely focused and driven guy. When the documentary effort began the dude was literally living out of his van so he could focus every resource on climbing.
Complicating matters: Honnold's new girlfriend, Sanni McCandless, is mostly supportive of his goal. She is still realistic over what could happen just as they're starting to build a life together. Jimmy Chin and other members of his crew (all of whom are elite mountain climbers in their own right) are troubled by the moral issue of possibly videotaping a friend falling to his death.
Even knowing in advance that Honnold successfully free solo scaled El Capitan it was still nerve wracking to watch him do so on the big screen. Many of the camera angles are spectacular and perhaps vertigo-inducing. In a Hollywood movie such imagery would be dismissed as CGI. The shit in this documentary is for real.
Another thing that made the movie more scary for me personally: here near Lawton we have the Wichita Mountains and there are some popular rock-climbing sites there. But nothing out there compares to El Capitan. Yet rock climbers out in the Wichitas, even ones using safety gear, fall to their deaths or severe injury from time to time.
There's a decent bit of Canon camera gear "porn" visible in this documentary, including a $70,000 50-1000mm Cine-Servo lens fitted to a C300.
Most on this forum know this documentary has since won the Best Documentary Feature Oscar. It aired on the National Geographic Channel recently. In case you haven't seen it already I highly recommend it.
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Jim Cassedy
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1661
From: San Francisco, CA
Registered: Dec 2006
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posted 03-12-2019 10:17 AM
I did one of the first North American showings of this last fall at a film festival.
I met Alex (the climber) briefly during a private screening the day before
the festival opened. Very early the next morning, as I was heading out for
breakfast, I discovered that he & his wife were staying in the house directly
across the street from the one I was staying at during the festival as we were
all leaving for breakfast at the same time.
- - Except at first I couldn't remember where I had seen him the day before.
- -and I could tell, as we met in the street, that he knew we'd met recently
too, and coudln't remember where either.
I finally realized where I knew him from, but coudln't remember his name,
so I blurted out something like "Your're the ROCK GUY"
- - to which he said - - "And you're the FILM GUY"
We both had a little laugh & exchanged a few pleasantries before going
our separate ways to breakfast.
A week or so before the Oscars, we briefly met again at a private screening
I did for executives of THE NORTH FACE clothing company, who apparently
have something to do with sponsoring him.
... and this time I remembered his name.
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