E-Mail This Article to a Friend TOUCHING THE VOID

In 1985, Joe Simpson and Simon Yates became the first — and they remain the only — persons to climb the Siula Grande peak in Peru. What would be an impressive achievement in itself becomes all the more extraordinary as the events of Touching the Void unfold. Told through interviews with Simpson and Yates and through re-enactments of the climb done with actors, director Kevin Macdonald shows how Simpson broke his leg on the way down the mountain, putting his life and Yates’s at risk. Yates unwittingly sends Simpson over a huge crevasse, where he dangles until Yates realizes that cutting the rope is the only way to save his own life. In a controversial move, Yates sends Simpson to an almost certain death. That we know Simpson has survived this ordeal makes none of this less incredible. His will to survive, and his determination to make it down the mountain through excruciating pain, is awe-inspiring. Although Simpson tells his story with typical British reserve, the dramatization, with Brendan Mackey shining in a mostly wordless role, shows him falling repeatedly on his broken leg and screeching in pain. His survival, though certain, is still thrilling. (106 minutes)