Personally, I think this is s superb film despite a certain amount of dramatic license being taken. And that's the point: it is dramatic license. This is not a documentary (unlike Simpson's film, which I also think is excellent); it is a movie and, like many movies that wish to portray an actual event, it is built around a fictional story (the love interest, a medium that was also used to good effect in James Caneron's 'Titanic'). Further, and more importantly, as the Director himself explains in the DVD extras, the film was made deliberately in the style of German mountain films of the 50's, and the love-story element was very much part of that.
As for the historical inaccuracies about the climb itself, I think they can also be accepted as dramatic license to increase the emotional response in the viewer, particularly those unaware of the actual events. The biggest change, of course, is the demise of Hinterstoisser. Whilst I am well aware of what actually happened, I don't blame the Director (or scriptwriter) for changing it because it does very much heighten the emotional impact for the viewer - it is the scene in the film that gets the biggest emotional response from me every time I watch it (about 6 or 7 times now). As s climber myself, I have been on a rock face in bad weather at night lowering my companions into a descent gulley and facing a solo abseil by head torch to rejoin them - and that sense of isolation I felt at the time is palpable when I watch Kurtz's plight in this movie. (I know: it's nowhere near what they went through but it does at least help me to understand what they must have felt like.) So, I don't think it detracts from the film at all.
The back story of the political situation is also well done, getting across a difficult subject (which cannot be ignored as this did have significant impact in lives of the protagonists) by use of characters with very polarised views. If more time had been spent in this area, I think it would have taken the attention away from the main point of the film - the tragedy of the climb. But it does the job it is intended to do; and does it very well, in my view.
All in all, a great movie that I will watch again and again.
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