Big picture this: it's 1936 in the 'old world'. Post-depression Europe is just awakening from the dredges of a dark period. At center stage though awaits Germany. Now the cacophonous chant, 'Heil Hilter', echoes throughout resurgent Deutschland. Well, in the film that catchy phrase is decried at least five times. Once though, I heard 'Bye Hilter'!
The new Chancellor, Mr. Hilter had grand designs for his people. And with the capitol, Berlin, hosting the Summer Olympics what better stage was there to set out on world domination?
For sure, the Third Reich is in search of fresh heroes. Hilter dearly wants to showcase the German youth's indomitable spirit. The whole world watched with tense anticipation.
Two young Bavarian Alpinists, Toni Kurz and Andi Hinterstoisser are dolefully deployed as hard boots down on the ground in the Wehrmacht's Bavarian Mountain Brigade. Often we are shown that these two German recruits dream of greater heights, ostensibly far away from the army. Mr. Hilter and his band of merry henchmen dream big too. The rest of Europe though shudders at learning those lofty thoughts.
Soon, both the would-be adventurers and the Deutsch Reich find a common target. Their goal is to scale Europe's last unscaled mountain: the Eiger North Face. However, local lore gave it a different name: the Ogre Face.
Located in the Swiss canton of Berne, the Eiger peak poses a formidable challenge. A year earlier, the towering granite peak claimed the lives of two other ace Munchen mountaineers: Karl Sedlmayer and Max Mehringer.
Enter the German media at the behest of the Nazi Propaganda Ministry...
Luise, an aspiring reporter with the Berliner Zeitung also hails from the same Bavarian village as the two main protagonists. Straight away she's hot on their tail (Toni's). So are two Austrian crack mountaineers.
The Austrian duo too aspires to be good Nazis. And the 'true' German males have visions of grandeur. Their mission from on high is financed by none other than their local SA chapter. It couldn't be any other way. They said so!
Now we have all the right ingredients for a grand spectacle. If you can set aside the 'politiks' couched in most sentences, 'North Face' is a fine film about courage and grace under extreme pressure. Hemingway would've approved of the movie script. I'm sure of that.
Along the way director, Phillip Stolzl even hints that 'love' is indeed the motivation behind everything. Work, play, ambition, desire and even sport are all affected by this magical elixir. Why else would man take to scaling high mountains while battling their inner selves as well as nature? And the Eiger rising straight up to more than 13,000 feet proves to be a worthy challenge even fearsome foe.
On the other hand, the Austrian team competition lends its hands/feet/heads though unwittingly to help speed fate to the pinnacle. For certain, the film's finale is nothing short of a spellbinding, heart pounding adventure at its zenith.
No doubt, Nordwand is the epitome of all mountain climbing films; I haven't seen its equal.
My verdict is this: a perfect 10 Stars.
Alleluia!
The new Chancellor, Mr. Hilter had grand designs for his people. And with the capitol, Berlin, hosting the Summer Olympics what better stage was there to set out on world domination?
For sure, the Third Reich is in search of fresh heroes. Hilter dearly wants to showcase the German youth's indomitable spirit. The whole world watched with tense anticipation.
Two young Bavarian Alpinists, Toni Kurz and Andi Hinterstoisser are dolefully deployed as hard boots down on the ground in the Wehrmacht's Bavarian Mountain Brigade. Often we are shown that these two German recruits dream of greater heights, ostensibly far away from the army. Mr. Hilter and his band of merry henchmen dream big too. The rest of Europe though shudders at learning those lofty thoughts.
Soon, both the would-be adventurers and the Deutsch Reich find a common target. Their goal is to scale Europe's last unscaled mountain: the Eiger North Face. However, local lore gave it a different name: the Ogre Face.
Located in the Swiss canton of Berne, the Eiger peak poses a formidable challenge. A year earlier, the towering granite peak claimed the lives of two other ace Munchen mountaineers: Karl Sedlmayer and Max Mehringer.
Enter the German media at the behest of the Nazi Propaganda Ministry...
Luise, an aspiring reporter with the Berliner Zeitung also hails from the same Bavarian village as the two main protagonists. Straight away she's hot on their tail (Toni's). So are two Austrian crack mountaineers.
The Austrian duo too aspires to be good Nazis. And the 'true' German males have visions of grandeur. Their mission from on high is financed by none other than their local SA chapter. It couldn't be any other way. They said so!
Now we have all the right ingredients for a grand spectacle. If you can set aside the 'politiks' couched in most sentences, 'North Face' is a fine film about courage and grace under extreme pressure. Hemingway would've approved of the movie script. I'm sure of that.
Along the way director, Phillip Stolzl even hints that 'love' is indeed the motivation behind everything. Work, play, ambition, desire and even sport are all affected by this magical elixir. Why else would man take to scaling high mountains while battling their inner selves as well as nature? And the Eiger rising straight up to more than 13,000 feet proves to be a worthy challenge even fearsome foe.
On the other hand, the Austrian team competition lends its hands/feet/heads though unwittingly to help speed fate to the pinnacle. For certain, the film's finale is nothing short of a spellbinding, heart pounding adventure at its zenith.
No doubt, Nordwand is the epitome of all mountain climbing films; I haven't seen its equal.
My verdict is this: a perfect 10 Stars.
Alleluia!