Think of some torturous on-screen ordeals. Ernest Shackleton and his crew surviving two years in the Antarctic when their ship was trapped in ice?  Clint Eastwood's hike across the desert in "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly"?  Ahh, these were no more than strolls in the park compared to what mountain climber Joe Simpson endured back in 1985.  "Touching the Void" depicts the true life event that happened to two climbers based on Simpson's own book.

      The true story starts out when two young mountain climbers, Joe Simpson and Simon Yates, decide to climb the west face of Siula Grande in the Peruvian Andes.  They ask a recent acquaintance to go with them to watch over their base camp at the bottom of the mountain.  These guys have climbed many mountains before and this one was to be just another challenging adventure. So much for that thought.

       On the climb up the mountain, most things go ok and the two climbers make their way to the top of west face.  The path leads them through rocks and boulders, snow and ice, and deep crevices.  On the way down the mountain, Joe is going first and Simon is following.  At one point, Joe slips and falls and when he lands, he breaks his leg, actually pushing his leg bone up thru his kneecap.  When Simon reaches Joe, it is determined that the best chance for them to descend the mountain is to have Simon lower Joe via a rope as far as the rope will reach, then Simon will climb down to the same level, and then do this over and over until they have reached the bottom.  Sounds like a good idea.

      During one of these descents, Joe goes over a ledge during a snow storm and cannot reach the side of the mountain to hang on.  He is just hanging via the rope, thousands of feet up in the air.  Simon doesn't know what has happened but because Joe isn't giving any slack on the rope, he knows something isn't right. Plus, the weight is slowly pulling Simon down the mountain thru the powdery snowy surface.  Finally Simon makes the decision that to have any chance for either of them to survive, he must cut the rope.  After doing this, Joe falls about 150 feet thru ice and into a large crevice.  He miraculously lands on a small ledge instead of falling to certain death to the bottom of the crevice.  Simon cannot find or see Joe so he makes the normal decision that he must be dead and heads back down the mountain to the base camp.

      Meanwhile Joe is stranded on the ledge in the crevice.  Bear in mind, he still has that severe broken leg and cannot use it to climb and goes through agony any time he puts pressure on it.  Joe finds that he cannot climb up the wall of the crevice because of the angle and ice, so he figures that for any chance of survival, he must go down into the crevice, hoping that there will be a way out.

      I won't give anymore of the details away, but it is a mute point that both of these climbers survive because both men alternate narrating the story from the very beginning.  Actors portray them during the climbing sequences.  So, even knowing the eventual outcome, the audience will be mesmerized watching the screen to see how the events will be played out.  I still don't know how Joe endured the pain, agony, and seemingly impossible struggle to get down the mountain and survive.

      The cinematography in this film is nothing short of breathtaking.  After seeing so many films in recent years with unbelievable special computer effects, the audience will find itself asking how the heck did they film this?  This is a riveting story and one that I had not heard about prior to seeing the film.  Evidently there was plenty of controversy afterwards which focused on Simon's decision to cut the rope.  But having watch the film, I believe that this was the only choice he had at the time.

      This movie will keep you glued to your seat so get all  your snacks before it starts. It is a compelling story of survival and one man's determination not to give in to all the things going against him.  Another word of advice... dress warmly when you go see this film.  I checked for frostbite upon leaving the theatre!