The mountaineers climb for reasons that have little to do with nationalism - reasons the film clumsily attempts to articulate in words. It's far more successful conveying those inspirations with stunning images of them scaling daunting heights.
North Face
A true story
2008 · 2h 6m · Not Rated
Action, Adventure, Drama, History, Thriller
Directed by
Philipp Stölzl
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North Face
Overview
North Face tells the story of two German climbers Toni Kurz and Andreas Hinterstoisser and their attempt to scale the deadly North Face of the Eiger.
Director and cast
- Philipp Stölzl Director
- Benno Fürmann as Toni Kurz
- Florian Lukas as Andreas Hinterstoisser
- Johanna Wokalek as Luise Fellner
- Georg Friedrich as Edi Rainer
- Simon Schwarz as Willy Angerer
- Ulrich Tukur as Henry Arau
- Erwin Steinhauer as Emil Landauer
- Branko Samarovski as Albert von Allmen
- Petra Morzé as Elisabeth Landauer
- Hanspeter Müller as Schlunegger
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
A straightforward, wickedly suspenseful Man vs. Nature saga of the type that rarely gets made any more.
Philipp Stolzl worked in the same dangerous conditions as the original climbers, and we can feel the chill and peril in our bones. It's a shame, then, that the screenwriter, unlike the camera crew and the characters, was afflicted with such timidity.
North Face" is something of an old-fashioned epic shot with modern wisdom and technique, a man vs. nature flick that also weighs the importance of the individual vs. the social while exposing the mean cost of vicarious thrills.
The word "gripping" doesn't do it justice.
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