It was the first time to watch a documentary on the big screen of the theater, and the movie-watching experience can be said to be quite pleasant. Whether it is the intense sensory stimulation of the extreme sports theme, or the expressions of the people recorded in the film that resonate with me, they can always keep me in the rhythm of the film. Being able to fully appreciate the film also gave me a lot of associations about the film. This time I watched the movie to participate in the "Never Disperse" event. After the movie ended, many friends who watched the movie together also shared their views on the movie. For me, as this film is for those who have acrophobia, so in the end I couldn't keep what I wanted to say on the scene. This is also a good thing. In the form of words, the expression that has been accumulated for a long time will be vented here. Without the limitation of length, it is destined to be more enjoyable.
"Free Rock Climbing" is a film about extreme sports, documenting the experiences of an unprotected rock climber. I remember watching a similar movie "Vertical Limit" in the cinema when I was young. At the beginning of the movie, I am still impressed by the scene where a rock climber cuts off the rope tied to himself to save his companion. There is also a passage in the film about " The plot of "Man Cannibalism" was really a shadow of childhood for me, who had a very simple concept of right and wrong at the time, so for a long time I thought it was a very good-looking film. A few years ago, I saw this film once again on TV, but it was not as good as before. The reason is not because I feel that the special effects of the film are behind the times, but because I have a clearer understanding of "fictional" things. A similar feeling is even stronger when watching a movie called "Walking in the Clouds", which is also a movie about "challenging the limit". There's so much acting marks everywhere in the film that I just can't believe the story it tells, even if it's a film based on a true story. The attraction of "Freehand Rock Climbing" to me started from its sense of reality. The reason why I can feel "reality" is not because it is a documentary, recording the real images, but because the recorder Alex The state of "real" that appears from beginning to end. The calmness shown by Alex is extremely precious today when everyone wants to wear more masks to show people.
At the beginning of the film, Alex gave an answer that could almost be regarded as a "standard answer" to the question of why he wanted to perform the extreme sport of "unprotected rock climbing"-doing this would make him feel the maximum to your own life. In my opinion, the content behind the whole film is nothing more than evidence for his answer, and if you can't understand or agree with Alex's explanation of his motives at the beginning, then watching or not watching the later film seems to be very difficult. It's hard to influence the perception of this film. Fortunately, I can resonate with Alex's statement, so I won't challenge him for the feat of "Chief Peak" in the next time, and make up various "utilitarian" motives, but from the discussion after the end of the film, I do so. people must exist.
When talking about how to get on the road of "rock climbing", Alex said that before he started rock climbing, he liked to play video games. In this respect, I am like him; he found a career in "rock climbing", and I I have become an independent game maker, and I am still "same" as him, at least from the point of view of making myself feel "existent", there is no difference in what we do. While this might sound a bit outrageous, I do feel that Alex's behavior is no different from the behavior of hardcore gamers who set themselves up for difficulty in the game and try to "speedrun without damage." Coincidentally, last year, a game about mountain climbing, "Celeste", won two heavyweight awards for the TGA (the Oscars of the game industry) annual independent game and the most socially influential game. The gameplay of this game is easy to summarize. Players need to complete a series of sprints and jumps to ensure that the protagonist in the game can continue to climb upwards and not fall off a cliff. While watching the movie, what makes me feel the similarity between this game and the movie the most is the clip in the movie that depicts Alex wearing a protective device, exploring what kind of a series of actions he should use to pass through the most difficult area of the entire rock wall, This is very close to the process of "Celeste", which ensures that the protagonist can finally be sent to the other side of the "level" through a series of accurate input operations through continuous trial and error. In fact, this game is originally the work of a game producer who loves rock climbing. The author hopes that more people can experience the challenges and fun of rock climbing through "gamification". Even the game's owner Madeline, in In terms of character settings, they all have an autistic personality similar to Alex.
The analogy between "playing games" and Alex's behavior is not to express that Alex's great feat of conquering "Chief Peak" without protection is actually not that great. The cost of pressing the wrong button and needing to do it all over again cannot be compared with the risk of breaking your bones if you take the wrong step. Doing this is to express that the meaning of one's life through one thing is something that everyone can do. At the end of the film, Alex, who has already reached the top, faces the camera and expresses his joy "unscrupulously". This kind of ecstasy is destined to be beyond the sympathy of the audience sitting on the screen, but it is estimated that few people will get a huge sense of satisfaction from him. Any doubts about this matter, at that moment, his reaction is very real. I believe that many people will be eager to obtain a similar pleasure to suffer from no way out. At this time, if you can think that this is no different from passing a difficult level when playing a game, the foot that is reluctant to step may be Easier to step out, right?
Another fascinating part of the film is that the filming team recorded the process of Alex's rock climbing, which was also preserved in the film as part of the content. The recorder of extreme sports is also an extreme sports player. Before watching the movie, I happened to see it in a variety show "Extreme Youth" about skateboarding. At that time, I saw the photographer walking on a skateboard with one foot and holding a Steadicam, skating side-by-side with the skaters being recorded, spontaneously gave rise to a respect for the "recorders". This respect is a little bit more when watching "Freehand Rock Climbing". Awareness of the existence of the camera will cause psychological changes in the subject, which is almost unavoidable. For unprotected rock climbing, slight psychological fluctuations are enough to make climbers lose their lives. How to deal with each other's relationship is a difficult thing for both the recorder and the recorded person. It is gratifying that such a "recording" act did not destroy a successful summit, and also won a golden statue for the shooting team. However, once you rely on something to gain fame or fortune, someone is bound to question your motives for doing it. In the viewing group of this film, I have seen similar remarks, saying "Freehand Rock Climbing" Not a pure documentary, which in my opinion is a scary idea, but it's no surprise now. When a person is doing something "pure", hearing a question like this is enough to destroy all his good moods.
When it comes to how to define "documentary", one of my favorite sayings is: "Documentary is to propose one's own interpretation among many interpretations". This quote was written by Hirokazu Kore-eda in his book "Things I Was Thinking While Making Movies". He also quoted another Japanese documentary filmmaker as saying "a so-called record, if it is not recorded by someone (emphasis), is worthless" to explain this sentence. It is Hirokazu Kore-eda who is my favorite director, and "restraint" may be the most rewarding label for his film style. I used to think so too, but after reading his book, I found that things were not like that at all. I once thought that "reality" was the most important thing in a documentary, but later I found out that "reality" is only an important element of a documentary. If there is no point of view and perspective belonging to the recorder, a completely real image can hardly be called a "movie" "Bar.
The presentation of Alex's ascent to the summit at the end of the film is the only part of the film that I feel is not perfect, because the epic BGM that matches the shot makes me feel like I'm watching an "inspirational film". Apparently Alex couldn't hear such majestic music while climbing, and his feat of reaching the top didn't require anything more than "climbing" to enhance the atmosphere. It might seem nitpicky to say that, but that scene really made me jump out of Alex's world.
In addition to rock climbing itself, the film also records many moments of Alex's life, such as his relationship with his family, how he gets along with his lover and so on. Are these contents interesting? They also add a little lightness to the content of the intense and exciting film. From the editing point of view, the film has always maintained a suitable rhythm, neither boring nor too tense (for those who are afraid of heights, it is another matter). All in all, "Freehand" Rock Climbing is at least worthy of such an evaluation, and such a screen, if it is not watched on the big screen, the experience must be greatly discounted.
Finally, I would like to thank "Fu San" for providing the opportunity to watch the movie in advance. After the screening, I heard many unique viewpoints and gained a lot. I also want to say sorry to the friends who were sitting diagonally at the back at that time. I didn’t expect that sitting too high would block you. I know that interruption of the experience while watching a movie is a bad thing, and I hope it will not have too much impact on you.
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