Free Solo took home the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature. It was an unbelievable athletic feat, and the film is right on par in terms of being an extraordinary artistic feat. PlayStation Vue — which doesn’t require an actual PlayStation console to sign up or watch — offers four different live-TV channel packages, all of which include National Geographic.
The results speak for themselves, and what he did was nothing short of incredible (-ly stupid). After watching The Dawn Wall with free climber Tommy Caldwell and his climbing partner Kevin Jorgeson I wondered if I was up to watch another climbing documentary about the same rock. This time it’s about Alex Honnold, the first person to ever free solo climb El Capitan, and to be fair I liked this story even more.
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For sure I can say that this is the highest ever accomplishment in sports of mankind ever and I’m so thankful that this documentary has been able to share it with us. Jimmy Chin is a professional climber, skier, mountaineer, 18-year member of The North Face Athlete Team and National Geographic Explorer. As the director, producer and cinematographer of the National Geographic Documentary Film Free Solo, which he co-directed with Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Chin captured rock climber Alex Honnold’s nail-biting free solo ascent of Yosemite National Park’s El Capitan. Consistently over the past 20 years, Chin has led or participated in cutting-edge climbing and ski mountaineering expeditions to all seven continents and made the first and only American ski descent from the summit of Mount Everest. He is also a filmmaker and National Geographic photographer. He has worked with many of the greatest explorers, adventurers and athletes of our time, documenting their exploits in the most challenging conditions and locations in the world.
I was also left unsatisfied by the part involving the climb itself, giving too little time to show the amazing footage of the climb, and instead changing camera angles at a fast rate accompanied by dramatic music. Those viewers who have never actually been to Yosemite and have never seen El Capitan up close will not get the full impact of what was done. It is an immense and impressive granite wall, over one-half mile tall. Alex Honnold, Sacramento native, is arguably the best free solo climber in the world. Many climbers had done various routes up El Capitan the past 60-odd years but none as a free climb, just the climber and the sheer face, no ropes, no hooks, no tent to sleep overnight. “I think I … had a unique ability to understand what he was going through,” he said.
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I didn’t care for most of the documentary, because I don’t find Alex to be a very sympathetic character, and I also think it focused too much on his dating life. He is who he is, and I respect that, but watching him share his opinions on love, relationships with others, and the importance of life in general was underwhelming to say the least. Whether he was putting on a bad boy show for the camera, or he really is this detached emotionally, his stubborn world view made him unlikable .
The trailer didn’t prepare me for the visceral anxiety of the film crew, their inability to watch the viewfinder as Alex performed crux moves which could have resulted in him plummeting out of frame. The close ups of Alex’s fingers on nubs if rock, his climbing shoes relying on tiny irregularities to retain grip, and his perfectly balanced moves displayed the craft of his skills. Non rock-climbers will learn an appreciation from watching this and climbers will revel. A documentary about climbing solo up sheer vertical cliffs without safety ropes sounds too crazy-masculine to contain a gentle story of emotional awakening. While Free Solo celebrates athletic triumph it is also a thoughtful essay on mortality, fear, and self-identity, as it probes into the heart and mind of an elite athlete in an extreme sport. “Free Solo” opened in late September in limited release, and immediately caused a sensation.
Like, why does he do this, or what in his past has led him here? I know Honnold shows signs of Asperger’s, which might be why it feels like he’s so disconnected from anything other than the climb, but this just left me wanting to know more. Also, it feels like he should absolutely not be in a relationship? I created reality blurred 20 years ago as a place to collect interesting links I found. Today, I review and recommend reality shows, documentaries, and nonfiction entertainment; analyze news and report from behind the scenes; and interview people who create and star in reality TV shows. You’ll also find other people’s insightful takes on reality TV in these pages, too.
The fact that he did, however, means he also knew what he was getting in to. Are we now to criticize her simply because she expresses to her boyfriend that she rather he not die? I would hope any woman in which I got involved would have similar concerns.
Together with an expert team of photographer climbers, he sets about the rigorous physical and mental preparation for the 3000 feet ascent. For most of the film, we watch him planning and repeatedly climbing El Capitan with safety gear, while documenting every single step and manoeuvre needed for what would be an historic free solo to the top. Consistently over the past 20 years, he has led or participated in cutting-edge climbing and ski mountaineering expeditions to all seven continents and made the first and only American ski descent from the summit of Mount Everest. Chin is also a filmmaker and National Geographic photographer.
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Reading about the soloing of El Cap in the summer of 2017, I was riveted. The film is just as, if not more, powerful than the best articles at the time. Free Solo depicts athletic feats that many viewers will find beyond reason – and grounds the attempts in passions that are all but universal.
Big respect for what he accomplished even though I will never get why people do such crazy pointless things. Follow Alex Honnold as he attempts to become the first person to ever free solo climb Yosemite’s 3,000 foot high El Capitan wall. With no ropes or safety gear, this would arguably be the greatest feat in rock climbing history. The documentary also takes in the views of the camerapeople who are recording his climb – climbers themselves, going up ahead of him or behind him or sometimes deploying drones.
Panoptic drones capture close-ups of Alex on vertical granite walls, showing breathtaking toeholds in tiny recesses that barely grip. During the arduous preparation, Alex has an MRI scan that reveals an inert amygdala…a part of the brain that regulates emotion. Coming from a broken home and obsessed in his pursuit of climbing perfection, Alex has no fear and is emotionally closed. The only fear shown in the film is felt by his crew who must mentally rehearse the possibility that they will witness a close friend’s death.
The hitherto accident-free athlete enters a relationship with the emotionally warm, wise, and beautiful Sanni McCandless, and for the first time he experiences fall injuries. Without the knowledge that free climber Alex was alive and on stage with the creators when they received their Oscar for this, I probably wouldn’t have made it through this. During the final free solo climb of El Capitan in Yosemite Valley my palms got increasingly sweaty from the images and the knowledge of the incredible risk. The unbelievable artistic feat aside, this is also the portrayal of a relationship dealing with looming death. One can only hope Alex is done now, his lovely girlfriend would deserve it. Probably the most fascinating, exciting and dizzying documentary ever.
It may not be diagnosed, but it serves him well in his pursuit. However, the same attributes that help him excel on the mountain also present challenges in relationships. I understand that they didn’t want to smother Alex with cameras while doing a precarious climb.
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