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Gordon
Trad climber
South Florida
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Topic Author's Original Post - Dec 1, 2008 - 09:06am PT
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The DVD has been out for awhile now, but I haven't seen any posts about it, yet. I'd be interested in people's thoughts, especially those who might have been around the Valley when it was being filmed.
Pepe Danquart's film, "To the Limit", in my mind, is on a level with "Farther Than the Eye Can See" and "Touching the Void"... a genre apart from the regular climbing films being put out. (I did enjoy "The Sharp End", but "Dosage MVIII" was a waste of time...)
The high-def still shots of the Valley and Patagonia, alone, are worth the price of the DVD. The hauntingly beautiful music is too! (I'd love to have the soundtrack... even just the viola sections.)
Danquart's goal was to delve into the Huber brothers themselves... the attempt at a new speed record on the Nose was the vehicle with which to do so. I don't know the Hubers personally, so I can't speak for those who do, but I found their story--as presented--to be extremely engaging and very human. Their sibling relationship is pretty wild...
I think the film was superbly shot and the editing provides both extraordinary beauty and moments of breath-stopping drama. Some parts are very touching as well. (I'm not giving anything away, here.)
One last note: Not being a speed climber (duh...), and not having witnessed such, the film gave me a gripping sense of what it takes physically and mentally, and what is involved technically and logistically, in attempting such a feat. My hat is off to the Hubers, Yugi and Hans, and others like them. And, also to Danquart and his film crew... what they accomplished in making the film is equally as impressive as the climbing!
Care to weight in?
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Prod
Trad climber
A place w/o Avitars apparently
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Hey Gordan,
This was posted a while back. Here is what I had to say.
I saw it at the Yosemite Facelift last year. My take was that it should have been about 1/2 as long, and all of the psycholigical BS about brother envy, and weird dreams should have been edited out. The climbing was awe inspiring. You can see all of the good parts on youtube in about 20 minutes.
Prod.
http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.html?topic_id=552987&msg=649256#msg649256
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Gordon
Trad climber
South Florida
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Topic Author's Reply - Dec 1, 2008 - 10:13am PT
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Prod, from a climber's perspective, I agree with your comments (Dean Potter and Chongo could have been edited too...); however, the film wasn't made for the same audience that Dosage (for example) was intended. With this in mind, I settled in for the duration and allowed the film draw me in. It worked for me.
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Roxy
Trad climber
CA Central Coast
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One could make the argument that the brother drama was kinda lame, I watched it the first time through, but every time after I just fast forward through the talking parts to get to the climbing action, which is where it’s at.
To The Limit had some perspectives / pitches of The Nose that I have not seen in other films. I also like how Dean Potter and Ivo Nivo make cameos and there isn’t a five minute back story on who Dean and Ivo are, if you know them, great, if you don’t no worries they are just climbers dropping their two cents on climbing.
I must also add that the Patagonia stuff really got my juices going. To The Limit is awesome and I can only imagine it took a Hollywood crew / budget to film / produce it.
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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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There was a mention of it on the Facelift07 thread, as it was shown one night there...
a fellow audience member whom I ran into in the men's room quipped: "do you think they'll do the Nose in a time shorter than the movie?"
I don't think they had broken the fastest time that summer, it came later, but I felt I had done more than my time at that viewing... Unless they've significantly edited the effort I don't really have any interest in seeing the video.
But then I don't like watching most climbing videos either....
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Gordon
Trad climber
South Florida
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Topic Author's Reply - Dec 1, 2008 - 01:01pm PT
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Ed, you'll have to watch the "Epilogue" in the Extras section for the answer to your question about whether or not the Hubers succeed in setting a new record in the film.
My understanding is that "To The Limit" was the director's (Danquart) third effort in his trilogy of sports films which includes Home Match (2000) and Hell on Wheels (2004). There's a trailer for Hell on Wheels (Tour de France) in the Extras... it looks pretty wild!
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Gordon
Trad climber
South Florida
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Topic Author's Reply - Dec 1, 2008 - 01:31pm PT
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BTW, is it true that Keith Richards stood in for Thomas Huber in some scenes?!?
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couchmaster
climber
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One of the better climbing films IMO, could have been edited a tad tighter, but it still is so great you might not notice that. They get some great shots.
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