The Beckoning Silence
In The Beckoning Silence, Joe Simpson - whose amazing battle for survival featured in the multi-award winning Touching the Void - travels to the treacherous North Face of the Eiger to tell the story of one of mountaineerings most epic tragedies.
As a child, it was this story and that of one of the climbers in particular, that first captured Simpsons imagination and inspired him to take up mountaineering.
Toni Kurz was a brilliant young mountaineer, who along with three other climbers tried to climb the mountain in 1936, which was then the last great unconquered peak in the Alps.
Their assault on the mountain started well, but then disaster struck. One by one Kurzs colleagues were killed, leaving him alone, hanging on the end of a rope fighting for his life in the most horrific of circumstances.
Over 50 years later in Peru, Kurzs story haunted Simpson as he battled for his own survival while hanging in mid-air. His plight uncannily mirrored that of Kurz - except, against all the odds, Simpson lived whilst his hero had perished.
I hate heights.. but fascinated with climbing as I could never do it.
Ive watched this at least 8 times..its a brilliant story.. the narration and voiceover is totally engaging.. in my top 10 of documentaries
I used to hate heights too, until I started climbing. You definitely don’t start out doing this kind of stuff, you start top-roping. If you have an interest, go for it.
I can live with the bad grammar, but would the intern who writes the movie descriptions kindly refrain from including spoilers?
I found the link to this documentary from a review of NorthFace, a German film. The film as griping but nowhere near as inspiring as this factual story. Joe Simpson shares his insights on the passions that drive climbers to challenge nature. It is a remarkable tale and he is a very gifted writer. I got the book White Spider from the library and it is a fascinating read. Thank you, Vlatko for this website.
Uplifting and soul crushing. Brilliant yet sad. It's impossible to to even mentally put myself in the position both Toni Kurz and Joe Simpson found themselves in.
If you find this as fascinating as I did, watch "Touching the Void". It's also available on this website. Thanks Vlatko.
Brilliant!
Courage to refuse the lure,
For those who outlive their passion, their reward is wisdom.
Beautiful example of a lethal struggle at the edge of oblivion, makes you proud to be human, cheers SeeUat Videos!
The cliffhanger ending is a killer. Brilliant.
You said "cliffhanger," heh heh.
So close, what a tragedy. I'll stick to skiing.
crazy guys , another offer for the mountain