(Above image taken from NicholasTinelli.com)
Rarely does anything capture the feeling of fear more innately than the extremity of heights. In most people, it triggers an instinctual, animalistic gut reaction that tells them on a primal level to keep away from the edge of a tall cliff or to not look over the side of a precarious bridge. Of course, Alex Honnold is not one of those people and his incredibly abilities are highlighted in the documentary film Free Solo, which showcases his attempt to climb El Capitan without any harness or assistance whatsoever - relying entirely on his own strength and skill.
The film however is less about the climb itself (which only takes up the last thirty minutes or so) and instead focusses on Alex Honnold the person, his state of mind, and his mentality towards a seemingly insurmountable challenge as well as the community of like-minded people who have as much of a passion for climbing as Alex does. Hell, one of the directors, Jimmy Chin, is a rock climber himself so it’s clear that this is a topic and pursuit that the filmmakers are passionate about.
The most distinctive aspect about this film to my mind is the cinematography highlighting just how tall El Capitan is: sweeping, steady shots over the rim of the mountain at the top, drawing your eye downwards towards Alex as he hangs from the side of the rock, then seeing the enormous gap between him and the vast canopy below. And because the film has the ability to take its time as a feature-length documentary, we have come to sympathise and care for Alex as strange and dissociative he seems at first glance, which heightens our fear that, with one misstep, he may plummet to his death. But if Free Solo was, say, a short film - ten or twenty minutes tops - we wouldn’t have gotten to know him as well as we did, and that connection might not have been as strong or have been there at all.
Overall: One of the most nerve-wrecking documentaries I’ve ever seen, but one that is certainly worth watching to witness a stunning feat of a human being overcoming nature in one of the most gripping ways imaginable.
The film however is less about the climb itself (which only takes up the last thirty minutes or so) and instead focusses on Alex Honnold the person, his state of mind, and his mentality towards a seemingly insurmountable challenge as well as the community of like-minded people who have as much of a passion for climbing as Alex does. Hell, one of the directors, Jimmy Chin, is a rock climber himself so it’s clear that this is a topic and pursuit that the filmmakers are passionate about.
The most distinctive aspect about this film to my mind is the cinematography highlighting just how tall El Capitan is: sweeping, steady shots over the rim of the mountain at the top, drawing your eye downwards towards Alex as he hangs from the side of the rock, then seeing the enormous gap between him and the vast canopy below. And because the film has the ability to take its time as a feature-length documentary, we have come to sympathise and care for Alex as strange and dissociative he seems at first glance, which heightens our fear that, with one misstep, he may plummet to his death. But if Free Solo was, say, a short film - ten or twenty minutes tops - we wouldn’t have gotten to know him as well as we did, and that connection might not have been as strong or have been there at all.
Overall: One of the most nerve-wrecking documentaries I’ve ever seen, but one that is certainly worth watching to witness a stunning feat of a human being overcoming nature in one of the most gripping ways imaginable.
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