Just when "Freehand Rock Climbing" won the Best Documentary Award, another work about rock climbing entered people's field of vision again, it is "Dawn Wall".
Some people say, why is there a safety rope for rock climbing? I might as well watch Free Climbing. However, the thrill of this film is no less than that of "Freehand Rock Climbing", and it can even be said that in the way of shooting, the danger of rock climbing is more prominent and dramatic. The former spends most of its time describing Alex's preparations for the climb, his RV life, his girlfriend, and his charitable cause, which actually detracts from the final climb to the top, although it's truly breathtaking .
What makes The Wall of Dawn different is that it depicts climber Tommy in more detail, from his father's corporal punishment training as a child, to his debut in the climbing world, and his being kidnapped and pushed by terrorists The mental journey of falling off the cliff, coupled with his indomitable belief after losing a finger, let us see how a flesh-and-blood climbing god changed from a little white rabbit to a big bad wolf.
Rock climbing is not achieved overnight. It not only requires training, planning, and polishing the route year after year, but also requires loneliness and endurance that ordinary people cannot bear. Inch after inch, grasping the edge of a blade-sharp rock with their fingertips between the millimeters required not only skill, but courage and a strong heart.
The first half of "Wall of Dawn" describes Tommy's growth process, being kidnapped by terrorists, divorced, losing his fingers, climbing alone... Each paragraph is inseparable from his personality, and the director did not covet He earned the audience's tears by rendering his charisma. Every story has its own light and heavy weight. From the beginning to the main event in the second half, he and his partner Kevin climbed the "world's hardest cliff to climb" Dawn Wall.
El Capitan in California's Yosemite National Park is a 3,000-foot-tall, straight-up monolithic granite. And that steep, barren, and lonely rock face is the Dawn Wall, which no one has climbed so far. Whenever the sun rises, there will be a large piece of rock on the rock wall that shines first, which is why people named it the Dawn Wall.
Tommy has been preparing for seven years, and finally started climbing the Dawn Wall with his partner Kevin. They lived on the steep cliff for weeks, sparking a global media frenzy, and after 19 days, they finally managed to reach the summit.
What impressed me the most was undoubtedly the part where Kevin hit the 15 pitch again and again. (The pitch means about 150 feet in length, which is the approximate length of a rope. There are 32 separate pitches in the Dawn Wall.) At that time, Tommy had already passed 15 pitches first, and while everyone in the audience was cheering, everyone began to pay attention. Kevin's climb. He tried during the day, tried at night, failed several times, and his fingers were so frayed that he had to stop to fix them. And under tremendous pressure, his attempt to repair failed again. Repeated failures tire me out, and I'm not sure if Kevin can keep up. At this time, Tommy decided to retreat and wait for him, he firmly believed that Kevin would succeed. The next day, Kevin repaired his fingers, and as another day dawned, he adjusted his breathing, repeated Tommy's climbing essentials over and over, and stretched his arms to the maximum in the area where he had fallen countless times. .....success! Seeing the tears flow wildly, the heart is surging.
In addition to daily rock climbing, they have to pull up hundreds of pounds of equipment every day, set up hanging tents, and make simple food to satisfy their hunger. Going to the toilet at high altitude is also very embarrassing. Of course, these are a piece of cake compared to rock climbing.
Watching the fingers dig into the rocks one inch by one, watching them sleep in a tent with a square inch, with the cliffs below, my palms sweat and my adrenaline is soaring. This is not only a physical competition, but also a spiritual and mental competition. Climbers must be fully focused at all times and never let up. Perhaps what they are after is not a momentary view of all the mountains and small mountains, but the transparency and transparency that the heart does not serve the form, the form does not serve the heart, and the deep meaning of it, perhaps only the climbers themselves can experience it.
View more about The Dawn Wall reviews
