Facts are wrong!


I saw The Beckoning Silence a few days ago, a documentary by Joe Simpson who discribes what actually happend. If you are interested of getting the facts right you should watch the documentary.
This movie is like they say only based on a true story, and that's it.
For me this movie goes right to the trash and i stick with The Beckoning Silence witch is a brilliant and correctly told story.

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For me, I didn't dislike it because of the based on the true story element. There are many great movies "based on a true story" where the facts are wrong. I disliked the unsteady camera. Any movie with an unsteady camera loses points with me. Since many movies these days have unsteady camera I find mostly watching movies and shows before 1990.

Like others, I felt the editing was pretty bad. It didn't flow professionally.

The bright side: I enjoyed the intense mountain climbing scenes and shots. They were breathtaking. Everything else was mediocre at best.

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I agree with you, there are many great movies based on a true story, where the facts are wrong. But with this one they shot over the goal. The fictional female reporter character was unnecessary.
It is a mistake to think that some kind of romantic part always completes the movie, or are appealing to the audience.

If she only had been there for the job.
Instead they had her climbing the mountain at the end so she could come up real close to Kurz.
That part made me almost cry when it was told the right way in the beckoning silence. Also they had Kurz final words wrong in this movie witch is annoying.

In some cases it´s essential to find out what really happend and stick with it in the movie. Or is it enough to let the main character die at the end, cause that did happend for real?
What i'm wondering about is that how many procent has to be right, how far away from the truth can we get, and still state that it's based on a true story?

For me the documentary was more dramatic and it spoked for it self. Best regards to Joe Simpson who is fantastic to put the lights on the right spots and retells and completes with feeling.

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Your description of the Beckoning Silence is so good I am going to see it. Thank you.

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I think you made a good choise.

After that your probably wanna see "Touching the void" :)

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"Touching the Void" was a profound watching experience for me!

It's one of the darkest movies I've ever experienced. I had to start laughing at the terrible string of bad luck the main character experienced -- not because it's funny, but as a coping mechanism because it's traumatic. My vivid imagination makes the movie super intense, and it's like a finely written tragedy that grows more horrible with every passing scene.

Amazing experience!

I watched it a couple months later, it was still great for the scenery, acting, and deep subject matter. It provides the viewer a lot to think about.

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Same here, first saw "Nordwand" on national TV, checked out the forums here and then watched "The Beckoning Silence"...
Now "Nordwand" seems like something of a turkey :-P
Some of the changes were mind-boggling; the events had plenty of drama, why twist it?
The love story, the rivalism between them, the changing of facts...looks Hollywoodish too me!

"Touching the Void" next I guess :)
Not a climber myself (more of a hiker), but I have friends who enjoy it (on a smaller scale), so I try to understand it/them.

Shoot straight, you bastards - don't make a mess of it!

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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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Did they really bring heavy equipment 1/3 up to North wall with train before they started the climb from valley ?
If they did, their attempt was void and useless even before it started.

Using the train (or helicopter ) to bring heavy rucksacks almost halfway up the mountain is big NO-No ! in climberś community.
From basecamp and higher it has to be only human effort, nothing more !

Las year when there was a sherpa strike, some climbers brought equipment from basecamp to camp 1 in Everest with helicopter skipping very dangerous Khumbu Icefall section, and even though they summited, it was disqualified because of outside technical help higher than basecamp.

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... a documentary by Joe Simpson who discribes what actually happend.
Gee, you'd hope so. it being a documentary.
This movie is like they say only based on a true story,
North Face doesn't claim to be a documentary like The Beckoning Silence, so I have absolutely no idea why you'd be whining about incorrect facts. For what it's worth much of the depicted climb is accurate to what is "thought" to have happened, with the main difference being the German and Austrian pairs didn't start out in competition with one another.🐭

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"If you are interested of getting the facts right you should watch the documentary." I wasn't whining. I gave people a tip... gee!

"North Face doesn't claim to be a documentary like The Beckoning Silence" So...where did i say it does?

"For what it's worth much of the depicted climb is accurate to what is "thought" to have happened" Nobody have to guess what happened since it's well documented.

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For me this movie goes right to the trash ...
... is whining.
"North Face doesn't claim to be a documentary like The Beckoning Silence" So...where did i say it does?
By whinging and whining that the facts are wrong in a fictional depiction of the climb, you are trying to suggest it has some sort of documentary status when it doesn't seek that.
Nobody have to guess what happened since it's well documented.
Yeah you're clearly an "expert". Not everything is known about the climb because the climbers all perished and, as the movie correctly shows, could not be seen by onlookers all of the time, because of the prevailing weather. Some of the details that likely occurred, are subject to a degree of conjecture. You should know that, after all you're the one claiming that all the facts are wrong, even though you don't cite a single instance in your rant.🐭

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No...but you are whining about the fact that i didn't like the movie.

I didn't suggest *beep* it is your dumb way of interpret my words. Please, stop whining now little man.
Learn to read. "Facts are wrong" don't mean ALL facts are wrong, but still many are.
No i'm not an expert, Joe Simpson is probably the closest to be on the subject.

Are you done whining now or is that like a 24/7 job for you?



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... whining ...
... whining ...
...whining ...
Look! The loser's learnt a new word. LOL! Glad I was able to help.
"Facts are wrong" don't mean ALL facts are wrong ...
You don't know what you mean. Go and play with your soft toys.🐭

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You do not have the ability to bring something sensible. I suggest you start by reading something legible that fits your brain, like Winnie the Pooh. These books can help you understand the word whine in a simple and educational way. Have a nice day, good luck!

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Just read about the real story on Wikipedia. It is nothing like the movie. A big let down really. I enjoyed the movie for what it was. But that and the slight shaky-cam kinda ruined a lot of it. Also, what's up with the female reporter climbing the mountain at the end? It was by far the most impressive thing in the whole movie and apparently it never happened. And all the other things? They happened very differently. Weird movie. Why not stick with the true story? The true story seems way more exiting.

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