Touching the Void (film)
| Touching the Void | |
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Region 2 DVD cover
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| Directed by | Kevin MacDonald |
| Produced by | John Smithson |
| Starring |
Brendan Mackey Nicholas Aaron Ollie Ryall |
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| Distributed by | Pathé |
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Release date
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Running time
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106 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Budget | £2m |
| Box office | $13,885,802 |
Touching the Void is a 2003 docudrama survival film about Joe Simpson's and Simon Yates' disastrous and near-fatal climb of Siula Grande in the Cordillera Huayhuash in the Peruvian Andes in 1985. It is based on Simpson's 1988 book of the same name.
Critically acclaimed, Touching the Void was listed in PBS' "100 'Greatest' Documentaries of All Time". The Guardian described it as "the most successful documentary in British cinema history".
In 1985, Joe Simpson and Simon Yates, both experienced mountaineers, set out to ascend the previously unclimbed West Face of Siula Grande in Peru. Though they reach the summit, a powerful storm develops and Joe suffers a badly broken leg in a fall during the descent. The pair attempt a self-rescue, deciding to lower Joe with ropes down the steep and snowy slope while an enormous storm rages on. Simon cannot see where he is lowering Joe and Joe eventually drops over the edge of a large cliff and is suspended by the rope in mid-air. Simon arrests his fall, but neither sees the predicament his partner is in nor hears him over the howling wind.
Unable to pull Joe back over the cliff and gradually losing traction in the loose snow, Simon realizes after about an hour that there is little chance of recovery from this situation for either of them and he decides to cut the rope connecting him with Joe. Simon descends after surviving a subzero and stormy night on the mountain but cannot find his partner. He assumes Joe is dead and returns to the base camp alone, where he stays to recover.
Joe, however, has actually survived the fall and is now trapped in a large crevasse. He manages to lower himself further into the dark abyss and finds an exit leading to the base of the mountain. He then spends days crawling back to base camp across glaciers and rocks, despite his broken leg, frostbite, and severe dehydration. Exhausted and near delirium, Joe reaches camp only a few hours before Simon intends to leave and return to civilization.
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Wikipedia