A trend in mountaineering documentaries has emerged over the past few years – from Sherpa by Australian filmmaker Jennifer Peedom, or her follow-up Mountain, through to 2018’s jaw-dropping Free Solo, which revolved around soloist climber Alex Honnold. The Alpinist has more in common with the latter, this one focussing its attention on Canadian climber Marc-André Leclerc. Peter Mortimer and Nick Rosen’s documentary reaches altogether new heights, and is mesmerising, thrilling and deeply moving in equal measure.
Mortimer and Rosen’s quite remarkable film has all of the things that docs like The Dawn Wall and the aforementioned Free Solo had in spades; jaw dropping, sweeping vistas captured through superb – and often brave (and almost impossible) – cinematography, excellent sound and score, but also a remarkable story about one individual at its heart – in this case that of quiet, unassuming Leclerc, a relatively unknown soloist – a climber who chooses to scale mountain summits on his or her own without the aid of ropes – from Vancouver Island in western Canada. Through talking heads with his mother, girlfriend, friends and peers, and indeed the filmmakers themselves, we gaze into the story of Leclerc and his love of scaling unconquerable summits – the difference here to those other documentaries, as the title suggests, is that Leclerc took to ice-cladded mountains all over the world, his path not just that of a naked cliff face, but also with the added, shifting dangers of ice and snow.
During the tight, thankfully manageable 90-ish minutes, we get an insight into the mind of Lercerc and individuals willing to put their lives on the line to achieve their goals, and fulfil ambition, in Leclerc’s case, purely ‘solo’, and away from anyone and everything except the mountain – including the spotlight from social media and other distractions.
The subject of Free Solo, Alex Honnold, also appears throughout, and even he hails Leclerc’s mindset and ability – a clear and collective, completely calm presence all lending a hand in his climbing achievements.
Of course, the film is difficult to watch in places – as thrilling as any of the titles I’ve mentioned in this review – but also full of heart and clear love and respect for its subject matter. As the film takes a turn during its final 15 or so minutes, the dynamic shifts again and, having gone in without any knowledge of Leclerc’s story, becomes almost unbearably emotional.
The documentary goes a way to answer the question as to why anyone would do what these men and women do what they do, and it does provide some answers and insight into this elite sport where indeed statistically half don’t make it back down the mountain. Powerful, thrilling and enjoyable, but also very stressful stuff with an ending that will leave a definite mark.
The Alpinist is in cinemas from 24th September.
The Alpinist
Summary
A thrilling, emotional journey that commands a cinema experience. Will stay with you for days after viewing.
