The Alpinist
Documentarians Peter Mortimer and Nick Rosen provide a compelling, breathtaking study of the Canadian climber Marc-André Leclerc.
A number of documentaries have been made around the subject of mountains and climbing and this piece by Peter Mortimer and Nick Rosen is the latest of them to appear. Since its focus is on one particular climber, Marc-André Leclerc, the cinematic predecessor that comes most readily to mind is 2018’s Free Solo which similarly featured a risk-taker who disdained the protection of ropes and climbed alone. That man was Alex Honnold who is also to be seen as an interviewee in The Alpinist thus rendering the link between the two films even closer. Given that Free Solo was highly acclaimed, the question that arises now is the extent to which The Alpinist is overshadowed or even made redundant by it. The answer is not altogether clear-cut since, although The Alpinist is happily every bit as good as Free Solo, it could still be the case that for some viewers a single film about mountaineering of this kind is more than sufficient and many with an interest in this subject will have seen Free Solo.
Although The Alpinist is only reaching us now the project goes back some years but was delayed when the young Leclerc, more eager to get on with his life and his career than to be seen on screen, disappeared for a time in the early stages and had to be tracked down by Peter Mortimer before he fully committed himself to the film. Furthermore, the movie went through a long editing stage. Mortimer, who also acts as narrator from time to time describes the young Leclerc as a goofy kid yet someone who was already a master of his craft when he first became aware of him. Before long the Canadian would not merely be a climber known among those at the British Columbian recreational resort of Squamish but an international name. In 2015 he went to Patagonia making two acclaimed solo ascents. The climax came with his attempt to turn it into a triple by being the first to make a solo climb of Torre Egger in winter and that endeavour is central to the second half of The Alpinist.
Mortimer and Rosen adroitly blend in interview footage with Leclerc’s colleagues and friends and there is particular emphasis on contributions from his girlfriend Brette Harrington, herself an alpinist. No less significantly, having spent two years following Marc-André, Mortimer has obtained plenty of material in which the climber talks about both his obsessive love of climbing and the spiritual freedom which he finds in what he does and which for him justifies the self-evidently high risk of death. His childhood and early development are touched on too (we learn that his grandfather was the one who first stimulated his interest in climbing at the tender age of eight). It is, though, virtually impossible to explain why certain individuals feel compelled to live a life that is so dangerous.
As Leclerc’s story unfolds, the film reveals his remarkable skills as a climber over both rock and ice and some of his most notable endeavours involve both. If Free Solo was admired for its breathtaking photography of mountaineering exploits, the impact here is no less, not least when it comes to the climbing scenes on Torre Egger and subsequently on the Emperor Face of Mount Robson in Canada. As is often the case with documentaries, the directors are so in thrall to their subject that they linger at the close when a more succinct ending would have been preferable. But far more important is the fact that The Alpinist provides a compelling narrative that grows ever more tense as it proceeds. Anyone drawn to the film is unlikely to be disappointed by it.
MANSEL STIMPSON
Featuring Marc-André Leclerc, Brette Harrington, Alex Honnold, Michelle Kuipers, Peter Mortimer, Will Gadd, Reinhold Messner, Barry Blanchard, Jim Elzinga, Hugo Acosta, Raphael Slawinski, John Walsh.
Dir Peter Mortimer and Nick Rosen, Pro Ben Bryan, Michael Negri and Clark Fyans, Ph Jonathan Griffith, Brett Lowell and Austin Siadak, Ed Josh Lowell, Joshua Steele Minor, Peter Mortimer and Férnando Villena, Music Jon Cooper.
Red Bull Media House/Sender Films-Dogwoof Pictures.
93 mins. USA. 2021. Rel: 23 September 2021. Cert. 12A.
