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Documentary Releases: The Alpinist (2021) - Reviewed
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| Courtesy of RoadsideFlix |
Just a few years after Jimmy Chin did
the mountain climbing documentary Meru, the climber/filmmaker turned his
cameras on free solo mountain climber Alex Honnold in the critically acclaimed Free
Solo. Around the time that film was
enjoying success, Honnold was asked in an interview whom he looked up to as far
as mountain climbing experts were concerned.
His answer pointed to a then-unknown twenty-three-year-old free solo
mountain climber named Marc-André Leclerc.
Born in Canada, Leclerc
operated completely under the radar with no self-promotion, no cameras, no
social media accounts and no real way to reach him without physically tracking
him down. Not that he was avoiding
people, quite the contrary. But he was
so intensely driven towards free solo mountain climbing feats no one on Earth
has ever attempted before, it was hard to keep up with him as filmmakers Peter
Mortimer and Nick Rosen found out in their upcoming documentary film The
Alpinist.
Following the reclusive camera-shy
Leclerc as he moves from impossible mountain climbing feat to the next in between
solo climbing with his girlfriend, filmmakers Mortimer and Rosen have fashioned
an intimate and personal portrait of the young man who possesses a natural gift
for assessing and scaling a mountain top.
Moreover, what’s particularly striking about Leclerc was his personality
and fearlessness.
At one point in the film Leclerc climbs
up Canada’s Stanley Headwall as he slowly ascends ice and rock past the
cameramen. It’s a nerve-wracking scene
but Leclerc is completely relaxed and in his element. Upon descending, Leclerc is asked if the
climb was “scary”, to which he replies “No, not particularly”. Later still, the filmmakers come to find out
he’s done several more record-breaking climbs without telling anyone before
admitting including cameramen would dilute the solitary climbing experience for
him.
Over the course of the film, Leclerc’s
free solo climbing feats grow more daring with more than a few fellow climbing
experts being interviewed admit while they admire Leclerc’s accomplishments
they also fear for his safety and well-being.
What’s remarkable in all of this is Leclerc never seems to take notice
of the noise his record-breaking climbing is generating, instead focusing on
his own internal journey towards enlightenment while pushing himself and the
challenges further and further.
Visually the documentary is beautifully
lensed, utilizing a combination of newly shot footage from the film crew as
well as personal videos shot by Leclerc during some of his own adventures. Sonically as well the film captures the
sounds of being up in the mountains with only Leclerc and his toolkit at his
disposal with every minute scrape of his tools against rock and ice audible to
the ear. Then there’s the original score
by Jon Cooper which gives the whole event a calm and solemnity as well as
deeply moving emotions.
A tribute to possibly the greatest free
solo mountain climber who ever lived whose own accomplishments have inspired
many fellow climbers around the world, The Alpinist is at once for
dedicated climbers and documentary aficionados and tells a remarkably personal
story lived out on a grand scale.
It is hard to come away from this unmoved
on some level, a film that acknowledges the dangers involved in the sport that
also respects Leclerc’s self-driven personality that helped him become a legend
in the eyes of mountain climbers the world over. While mountain climbing is something I myself
will never do given the dangers involved, watching Leclerc’s journey was kind of
inspiring as far as watching a person in their element fulfilling their
dreams.
--Andrew Kotwicki
