The Alpinist

An attempt to capture two years of the "career" of perhaps the best alpinist of his generation. He’s so different that even the weirdos (in a good way) of Honnold's stripe consider him "somewhat peculiar". It wants to be a portrait of the motivations of someone who takes on the riskiest challenges ever, what drives them to do it and why, and at the same time, it aspires to be a medley of several human possibility-defying performances. In the first case, it is a hindrance that Marc-André doesn't let anyone (let alone a crew) near his body; and when he does, it is at such a great distance that getting under his skin is out of the question. In the latter case, the problem is that he has no need to spread the word about his plans, let alone invite/bring along a cameraman that would negate the intimate experience of a solo climb. Neither, however, means that the documentary fails. On the contrary, it grapples with these pitfalls, and this virtue out of necessity is in consequence its greatest merit. And, of course, Marc-André is the prototype of a fascinating personality with an unusually carrying and powerful destiny. Inevitably it is (and will be) compared to Free Solo, after all, it's about solo climbs without belay, often with the same locations. But both are about someone else and, as a result, about something else. Both are telling, breathtaking, fascinating, but in a completely different way and for completely different reasons. (06.01.2022)