As I am someone that has no interest in mountain climbing, Kevin Macdonald’s interpretation of Joe Simpson and Simon Yates’s intrepid journey, ‘Touching the Void’, is a powerful film that is sure to turn heads and has definitely made me reconsider spending time mountain climbing. This docudrama follows a tragic incident that results in one man’s fight for survival after Joe and Simon’s descent up the unclimbed Peruvian Andes and ends with the audience questioning what they would do. To achieve this, Macdonald has turned the friend's story into a gripping and captivating film, by taking the climbers back to the mountain on which they almost lost their lives.
When we first meet Simpson he comes across as blunt and brutally honest. His attitude and honesty then leads him to a slow reduction before reaching breaking point, where he must …show more content…
These personal interviews with the two climbers help support actors, Brendan Mackey (Paintball, 48 Angels, Boxed) who plays Simpson and Nicholas Aarons (Countdown to murder, First kill/last kill) who plays Yates, to inmate the mountaineer’s memories and experiences in such a compelling way. By employing Mackey and Aarons, who are experienced climbers and double up as stunt doubles, Macdonald is able to recreate the drama authenticity as both are able to climb the exact tracks Simpson and Yates did in Switzerland, France, Peru and the Alps. With the film being based around mountain climbing and not involving a large amount of dialogue, it meant that the acting in most scenes was not a distraction because their faces were disguised from the immense amount of frostbite due to the severe high scaled weather conditions, making it hard to recognise
When we first meet Simpson he comes across as blunt and brutally honest. His attitude and honesty then leads him to a slow reduction before reaching breaking point, where he must …show more content…
These personal interviews with the two climbers help support actors, Brendan Mackey (Paintball, 48 Angels, Boxed) who plays Simpson and Nicholas Aarons (Countdown to murder, First kill/last kill) who plays Yates, to inmate the mountaineer’s memories and experiences in such a compelling way. By employing Mackey and Aarons, who are experienced climbers and double up as stunt doubles, Macdonald is able to recreate the drama authenticity as both are able to climb the exact tracks Simpson and Yates did in Switzerland, France, Peru and the Alps. With the film being based around mountain climbing and not involving a large amount of dialogue, it meant that the acting in most scenes was not a distraction because their faces were disguised from the immense amount of frostbite due to the severe high scaled weather conditions, making it hard to recognise