In Reply to: Run to see "Touching the Void." Seldom will posted by tinear on April 1, 2004 at 18:23:23:
It's one of those rare movies where you know pretty much exactly what you're in for, and it's still intensely engaging.Don't know if it's so much a matter of 'bravery,' though. More a supra-human endurance born of necessity. For me the story illustrates what happens in situations where you simply must fight to survive. He wasn't even operating as a person, just a mute, committed, generic 'organism'...that's what I got from his own testimony, and from the theme itself of 'touching the void'...he reached a point where he was no longer an individualized human being with a discernible 'self,' and once you come back from that position, the stuff of everyday life does seem somewhat make-believe.
It's a rare film that has that for a moral. I was also impressed with the fact that he didn't cop out to any "by the grace of God I was saved" mentality. Natural, driven endurance got him through. All the Oprahesque stories of 'overcoming all odds' should be scrapped, and this film should be shown in a loop on morning television: "Now stop whining about how hard it is to live in the shadow of your more successful sister, already."
______________________________
Stranger than that, we're alive!Whatever you think it's more than that, more than that.
-Incredible String Band
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:
Follow Ups
- I concur, mostly. - rhizomatic 09:23:12 04/02/04 (3)
- Well, part of the bravery was in the attempt. Then, - tinear 11:16:28 04/02/04 (2)
- True. - rhizomatic 11:58:07 04/02/04 (1)
- Well, I think the book and this film have altered the public perception. nt - tinear 17:03:02 04/02/04 (0)