After watching the film, I looked through some comments, many of which were full of respect, praising Alex as a perfect person, and even extended to accusing his girlfriend of being "not supportive enough". Also very funny.
Documentary is not 007, not to create a Hero to let him win and make the audience happy, but to provide an interpretation perspective by recording multi-dimensional facts.
At least for me, using this film to understand Alex and Free Solo, it will be difficult to interpret it simply as "a tribute to the spirit of extremes".
For Alex, in addition to absolute first-class skills, guts and enthusiasm, he also needs Free Solo, from physical to spiritual. It requires perfect self-affirmation, and the fun and excitement of being immersed in it. His calmness about death and danger, his refusal of affection and responsibility, also makes him better than the average person for this challenge.
The "persistence" and "challenge" that the audience praised also mean "reckless" and "reckless". These parts, not only most people will not "envy", but even "if it happens to you, you will be explicitly rejected by you".
But these on the other side of the mirror seem to be deliberately ignored by most viewers?
The audience is always in the mentality of the spectators. When he climbed to the top, made a film, and won an Oscar, the spectators would say hello. If it was really unfortunate, most people would not know at all.
That's really just as ruthless as he said in the film: "Your life will continue, it's no different." This is the "human nature" that needs to be given up in extreme sports, and it is also what most people give up. The common sense of people who can't be let go.
He is the one who carved Free Solo into his bones, and only a complete Solo can make him enjoy a complete Free. His most natural state is to restrain his feelings, to leave no worries, not to consider external things, and not to really care about others. Therefore, he will not take into account the feelings of his family and girlfriends too much, and he can also quickly deal with the bad news of the death of his good friend. In addition to hanging on the cliff, the rest of his life is actually Free Solo.
For most people, his success cannot be replicated, nor envied, but can only be admired. Those who can achieve this kind of innovation are destined to be only a rare genius + lunatic like him. I and other mortals can only look up, seeing this brilliance is very dazzling (actually, most people's legs are weak when they look at the scenery under his feet).
However, my respect for the shooting team is higher than for Alex personally. Not only the difficulty of shooting, but their professionalism in the design and implementation of the shooting process, able to ensure Alex's personal safety and climbing experience, the interpretation of Alex conveyed through efficient content design, and the connection between such a limit mentality and the world. The way of values is finally able to present such a work.
This is what I admire more. They have taken the culture they love to another level in a professional way and spread it to a larger group of people. It is an amazing combination of extreme spirit and humanistic spirit.
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