The Sanctity of Space
Another mountaineering documentary seeks to be different from the others but fails to impress.
The commercial success of Kevin Macdonald’s Touching the Void made in 2003 contributed hugely to the standing of documentary films as viable propositions at the box-office. That being so, it is hardly surprising that in the years since then mountaineering exploits have become the subject of many later works of this kind. Especially in the last few years they have been frequent. Indeed, when recommending Torn earlier this year I thought it important to stress that despite being centred on a climber, Alex Lowe, its concerns took it rewardingly into areas beyond those that are usual in this genre.
On paper, this new documentary The Sanctity of Space also looks set to do something different that would give it a value of its own and avoid any real sense of it being in competition with such fine works as Free Solo (2018) and The Alpinist (2021). Admittedly the filmmakers here, Renan Ozturk and Freddie Wilkinson, are in part dealing with their own climbing endeavours, many of which were shared with Zack Smith and centred on Denali, formerly Mount McKinley, in Alaska. However, the inspiration for that came from the photographs of the region taken by Brad Washburn. This man, who lived from 1910 to 2007, in addition to being a noted photographer was also a mountaineer and a cartographer responsible for making definitive maps of the area while in later life he was director of the Boston Museum of Science. The novelty of The Sanctity of Space lies in it seeking to blend the mountaineering undertaken by its makers (in particular their attempt to traverse Denali by crossing its several summits) with a portrait of Brad Washburn. This latter element includes comments about him from biographers and others, archive footage from the 1930s and an interview with Washburn filmed late in his life.
In publicity for this film Ozturk admits that the blend might not be easy to bring off and he was right to have concerns. It would seem that the historical material available relating to Washburn was limited. When incidents in his life are recalled and supported by genuine black-and-white footage of the period, colour shots are often interspersed with it. This may, of course, be something that Ozturk finds acceptable enough. After all he sets up a pre-credit sequence described as showing Fairbanks, Alaska in 1936 which intercuts occasional black and white shots with many in colour which were undoubtedly taken far more recently and probably just for this film. The mix immediately becomes self-conscious and leaves one with the impression that the filmmakers are hoping that viewers will mistake the colour footage of this introduction for the real thing rather than a wordless reconstruction.
It's a further snag that although the time devoted to Ozturk, Wilkinson and Smith is significantly greater than that given to Washburn it is the latter who is by far the more interesting. The best films about climbers give enough personal detail about the participants to make the viewer feel involved with them. They also portray some climbing undertaking which grips the viewer and creates its own form of drama. But in The Sanctity of Space we learn comparatively little about the three climbers and, since their enterprise stretches over three years and is interrupted by other endeavours, the impact of it hardly ever becomes intense. Ozturk has done some directing before but in the world of film he is best known for his work as a photographer on such features as Sherpa (2015) and Mountain (2017). As the chief photographer here he does provide some good shots as one would expect, albeit that the most memorable images come from Washburn and are in black and white. But, with the Washburn material needing to be less choppily inserted and better fleshed out, the key fact is that this film largely fails to avoid those comparisons with Free Solo, The Alpinist and Torn which reveal it as being an also-ran.
MANSEL STIMPSON
Featuring Renan Ozturk, Freddie Wilkinson, Zack Smith, John Grunsfield, Josh Hoeschen, Kurt Marcus, Brian Okonek, Paul Roderick, Mike Sfraga, Jack Tackle.
Dir Renan Ozturk and Freddie Wilkinson, Pro Kate Holland, Ryan Kampe and Taylor Rees, Screenplay Freddie Wilkinson and Chad Ervin, Ph Renan Ozturk with Freddie Wilkinson, Ed Erin Barnett and Chad Ervin, Music Logan Nelson.
Visit Films/Expedition Studios-Dogwoof Pictures.
100 mins. USA. 2021. UK Rel: 4 March 2022. Cert. 12A.