Father Geek here (land-locked in the Central Texas Hill Country) with a report sent in by our lovely "island-girl" editor Moon Yun Choi. Her ace reporter Albert worked up a review of the opening film of this year's International Film Festival Spring Fling in Honolulu. Its a great Adventure Doco, the first of several excellant films that will be screening over the weeklong affair that Ms Moon Yun and her crew will be covering for us...

GRIPPING CLIMBING DOC OPENS SPRING FILM FEST IN HAWAII

By Albert Lanier

Kevin Macdonald's TOUCHING THE VOIDwas one of a trio of films opening this year's Hawaii International Film Festival Spring Fling in Honolulu.

The weeklong event which is scheduled to run from April 2 - 8 will feature about 20 feature-length films.

TOUCHING THE VOID commenced the festival April 2 followed that night by a choice between two films for HIFF habitués- the South Korean comedy SINGLES and the Chinese desert epic WARRIORS OF HEAVEN AND EARTH.

I should add at this point that the Spring Fling or Film Festival turns seven years old this year and differs from the main HIFF festival held in the fall in that the Spring Fling only offers a number of screenings sans seminars, press conferences, panel discussions and the usual hoopla permeated events you find at most film festivals.

TOUCHING THE VOID was the first film on my docket and I was certainly not disappointed by this well-made and powerful piece of documentary filmmaking.

Directed by Kevin MacdonaldTOUCHING THE VOID splices first person interviews together with filmed reenactments to recount a harrowing and tough-minded story of sheer survival.

Perhaps the ghost of the young Danish Prince in Shakespeare’s HAMLET says it best: "I could a tale unfold whose lightest word would harrow up thy soul, freeze thy young blood..."

In 1985, two young British climbers, Joe Simpson and Simon Yates, sought to conquer Siula Grande, a mountain peak in the Andes range in Peru.

The peak was fairly remoteand it hadn't really been successfully scaled though other parties had tried and failed in the past.

Sod thatmight as well climb the bloody thing anyway.

So, in June of '85, the two would-be Edmund Hillarys set out to climb up to the summit of Siula Grande. Richard Hawkings, another Englishman that Yates and Simpson had run into in Peru, was recruited by the two men to remain at base camp and look after their tents while both men set out to test their mettle on Siula Grande.

Unfortunately, it was a test both men nearly flunked.

Oh, the ascent was great. Simpson and Yates both made good time and scaled the peak in just over a couple of days. Both men were obviously satisfied and exhilarated by their accomplishment.

However, the problems began during the descent on the third. The winds began to pick up blowing and whipping "powder" or snow at them.

The snow laden rock walls also seemed harder to secure with their picks as they were slowly heading down.

As Joe Simpson was trying to wedge a pick into some part of the face of the mountain, he slipped down and felt a couple of bones in one of his legs jam into each other. Simpson had broken his leg.

To make things worse, Simpson and Yates had been Alpine Climbing Siula Grandeand both men were dependent upon each other.

Yates had been coming down behind Simpson. Informed of the broken leg by Simpson, Yates began to act.

There were two lengths of rope available--both lengths were 150 feet each. Yates decided to lower Simpson down using one 150-foot span of rope while tying the other length of rope around him together with Simpson's in a knot

When there was too much pressure on Simpson's length of rope, Yates would re-tie the knot and have Simpson slide down again.

Slowly, this improvised method seemed to work until Simpson slid off the face and found himself hanging in thin air with a 400-foot drop below him.

To complicate matters, Yates could not see Simpson up ahead and had no idea that his partner was dangling over the side. All he could feel was the increased tension on the ropes, the pressure on the knot...

It is at this point that the drama of TOUCHING THE VOID really begins thus I can write no further because the power of this film is unleashed from this point on.

TOUCHING THE VOID works so well not merely as a documentary but a "dramatic motion picture".

I know you've seen that oft bandied phrase used on the cover of dull novelizations of brain-dead Hollywood films but it really means something when describing Macdonald's film.

The main reason why TOUCHING THE VOID succeeds is because Macdonald and his producer John Smithson have opted for a direct approach on-camera interviews (as well as voice overs over footage which work wonderfully here) with Simpson, Yates and Hawkings in which they describe every facet of their travails intercut with filmed reeanactments of the ascent and descent with climbers scaling, sliding, stumbling and crawling their way eventually to the bottom.

We hear the sorrow and the horror of Simpson's predicament from him and we see visually what he must of gone through.

Why is this important? Because we can't intellectually and emotionally run and hide while watching this film. When Simpson suffers, we suffer. When Yates is unsure, we are unsure.

What Macdonald has deftly done here is build a real piece of drama out of the pain, agony and fearof life.

No Hollywood studio film dealing with the same material could approximate TOUCHING THE VOID because most American "dramas" are really melodramas constructed as mazes filled with arch looks and expressions, colorful and heart rending speeches and boxed in spaces where false emotions and feelings are dredged up by “professional" actors.”

With TOUCHING THE VOID, Macdonald has demonstrated that he is a first-rate documentarian. This is an intelligently directed and produced feature-length documentary film and a smart opening night choice for HIFF' Spring Fling. More importantly, a film for grown ups.

That's it for now. My review of WARRIORS OF HEAVEN AND EARTH also screened on opening night will be upcoming as well as the batch of films shown during the weekend and beyond.

Until then, I’ll see you when I see you.