Spoiler Warning: This discussion contains some spoilers. It could be an entire gag from a comedy or in-depth conversation concerning events in the second act.
"There is a razor's edge between genius and madness."
The Alpinist was a completely blind watch; I hadn't even heard of it when I booked the tickets. Yet, I'm always down for a cinema trip and having enjoyed other climbing documentaries like Free Solo and The Dawn Wall in the last year, it seemed like a good time.
Directors Peter Mortimer and Nick Rosen, one half of the team behind The Dawn Wall, know precisely how and when to press your mouth-wide-open button. This is a gorgeous film with some stunning cinematography. There are several shots that remain in my mind - namely one where you can see past the other side of what Marc-André Leclerc is climbing. That single shot is a true encapsulation of the total insanity of the act, the beauty of the film, and the skill of the man.
Speaking of Leclerc, he is a mysterious figure for much of the film. The idea is that he doesn't care much about the documentary, nor for the accolades of climbing. It's what sets this apart in tone from the likes of Free Solo, The Dawn Wall etc. because Alex Honnold and Tommy Caldwell knew what the films would do for them. Leclerc simply does climbs and then lets the filmmakers know, so when we are finally let in to see his craft, it feels all the more special.
It is great at knowing when and when not to use music, opting for silence in the tensest moments of the climbs. It's only amplified when you see Alex Honnold call Leclerc a maniac for climbing on the surfaces he does. I was convinced in every scene that he may fall off the edge or the rock would give way. What makes The Alpinist such a remarkable viewing experience is that they provide examples of climbers dying doing easier stunts than Leclerc does here. Yet Leclerc feels invincible; he's moving with such grace, placing climbing hooks around his neck as he goes without any real difficulty. However, it doesn't change that when you see the ground thousands of meters away below him that he's going to eventually meet that surface at a much faster pace than he wants.
It's a see-saw experience, one that you can only really get from this kind of documentary. It is all the better on a bigger screen where you can truly appreciate the scale of the movie. Sign me up for more of these intense climbing documentaries with people on the borderline of total lunacy. The Alpinist is pretty special, worthy of your time, and a scary advert for climbing shoes - or an excellent advert for ropes, depends on how you'd like to look at it.
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