True story leaves viewers on edge

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This article was published 27/10/2018 (2911 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It turns out the scariest, most nerve-racking movie in theatres this Halloween is a documentary about a rock climber.

It’s not just any rock. The El Capitan in California’s Yosemite National Park is “3,200 feet of sheer granite.”

Just for perspective, first-time skydivers generally make their first jump at 3,000 ft.

The climber is a unique character too.

Alex Honnold’s athletic specialty is that he is a free climber. That means he takes on these perilous climbs without ropes or pickaxes.

He takes the climb as it comes, clinging to the rock face with fingers and toes.

The El Capitan is the Holy Grail of free climbers. Even Honnold, presumably in one of his lucid moments, admits the prospect of climbing it is terrifying, since a single error of judgment means certain death. His performance must be perfect.

The documentary, co-directed by E. Chai Vasarhelyi and photographer/mountaineer Jimmy Chin, doesn’t employ a lot of expert testimony from other superstar free climbers — the doc lists Dean Potter, John Bachar and Dan Osman — because they all died in their pursuits.

If they were alive, they would undoubtedly express concern.

“People who know exactly what he’s doing are freaked out,” says one of Honnold’s few friends, Tommy Caldwell.

That’s another thing. The film necessarily becomes something of a personal profile of Honnold, a man who resists intimacy in his relationships.

“I will always choose climbing over a lady… at least so far,” he says early in the film.

The young woman who makes him reconsider that choice is Sanni McCandless, who succeeds in breaking through Honnold’s lone-wolf shell, but not to the extent he ever reconsiders making the climb.

In a way, his relationship with her is another challenge to be carefully negotiated and conquered — although, it doesn’t bode well that Honnold has clearly relegated her to secondary status, especially after he faults her for a climbing accident that results in a sprained ankle.

“Nobody achieves anything in life when they’re happy and cosy,” Honnold says.

The documentarians — especially Chin — also impose themselves in the doc, but for good reason. Concern arises that the cameras following Honnold in his climactic mission might distract him at a pivotal moment, and distraction is as good as death.

The influence wielded by a documentarian on his subject — always a concern — has never been quite so life-or-death as it is here.

The climactic ascent actually starts in the last 20 minutes of the film. Be assured the first 80 minutes boasts some truly hair-raising footage of Honnold’s practice runs up the granite wall.

Fear of heights is pretty much a deal-breaker if you’re considering buying a ticket. Heights don’t bother me and I had to turn away from the screen on occasion when faced with dizzying shots of El Capitan’s precipitous drop.

It’s some consolation that in the final stages, professional climber Mikey Schaefer, a member of the camera crew, has to turn away from the viewfinder of his camera because the tension was just too great. So I’m in good company, at least.

randall.king@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @FreepKing