Free Solo

This movie shows the humanity, insanity, and personal struggle for perfection it takes to do things that no one else has done and few to none have tried to accomplish. Possible the best movie I have ever seen in terms of drawing you in, keeping a strangle hold on your attention, and not just rushing to the juicy parts but letting you savor the journey. Alex Honnold you are an inspiration to the world. Never stop. "What you are afraid to do is a clear indicator of the next thing you need to do." -Ralph Waldo Emerson

A documentary about climbing solo up sheer vertical cliffs without safety ropes sounds too crazy-masculine to contain a gentle story of emotional awakening. While Free Solo (2018) celebrates athletic triumph it is also a thoughtful essay on mortality, fear, and self-identity, as it probes into the heart and mind of an elite athlete in an extreme sport.

By his mid-30s, Alex Honnold had achieved a world-class reputation for solo climbing, but despite his achievements, he was taunted by the unconquered El Capitan cliff face of Yosemite National Park. Together with an expert team of photographer climbers, he sets about the rigorous physical and mental preparation for the 3000 feet ascent. For most of the film, we watch him planning and repeatedly climbing El Capitan with safety gear, while documenting every single step and manoeuvre needed for what would be an historic free solo to the top.

While this simple, linear narrative is predictable from the outset, the photography and character study are sublime. Panoptic drones capture close-ups of Alex on vertical granite walls, showing breathtaking toeholds in tiny recesses that barely grip. During the arduous preparation, Alex has an MRI scan that reveals an inert amygdala...a part of the brain that regulates emotion. Coming from a broken home and obsessed in his pursuit of climbing perfection, Alex has no fear and is emotionally closed. The only fear shown in the film is felt by his crew who must mentally rehearse the possibility that they will witness a close friend's death. The hitherto accident-free athlete enters a relationship with the emotionally warm, wise, and beautiful Sanni McCandless, and for the first time he experiences fall injuries.

With an easy broad smile, wide eyes, and vulnerable humility, Alex is a very likeable young man. His blossoming relationship with Sanni unfolds with childlike simplicity and growing emotional responsibility, while they are both aware that free soloing El Capitan means Alex will always be one slip from certain death. This fly-on-the-wall documentary eavesdrops on a few private moments to reveal a dilemma: Alex's dormant emotional self is being stirred, but he must overcome it to face what is a super-human challenge.

Some viewers will notice the unbounded selfishness required to put others through the stress of Alex's personal pursuit while he is relatively free from the constraints of human emotion. Others will see Alex as a heroic protagonist in his own tortured life journey, or maybe wonder what bravery means if one feels no fear. No doubt there are other viewpoints and readings of this film. Regardless of what message you take, this is a riveting story, brilliantly filmed amongst some of the most stunning mountain scenery you will ever see.

By far one of the best horror films I have ever seen.

No, I'm not inspired to free climb El Capitan or any slope. I'm an 84 year old retired businessman still trying to figure out how to best live my life, and I left the theater last night in awe of Alex Honnald's achievement -- climbing an almost vertical granite wall in a little over three hours when, in any second, the slightest mistake would result in death.

Watching Alex do it -- watching the joy in his face when he got beyond some of the most difficult challenges as well as on the top,\; watching the intense focus and concentration as he sought safe holds; watching what I read as his quiet determination and confidence when he approached the wall for his solo climb -- these images will be with me for the balance of my life.

They will return to me when I need focus and concentration in the moment to achieve something. They will return to me when I need to build confidence and determination to achieve a goal. They will return to me as I examine and release thoughts of fear that I conjure up (but I'm not blessed, as Alex is, with an amygdala that does not respond to fear inducing visions).

Thank you, Alex, for the powerful inspiration.

"Free Solo" (2018 release; 96 min.) is a bio-pick about Alex Honnold and his historic 2017 climb of Yosemite's El Capitan. As the movie open, we see Alex in the later stage of that climb, and the images immediately will cause you to gasp. We then go back to "Spring 2016", when Alex is doing a book tour and comments about why he does what he does. "Chances of falling off are low, but the consequences are high", he wryly observes. Ater a few minutes recapping Alex's upbringing, it isn't long before the movie centers on El Capitan, "the center of the rock-climbing universe"... At this point we are 10 min. into the movie, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.

Couple of comments: this is the latest documentary from (real life couple) Jimmy Chan and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, who previously brought us the equally excellent "Meru", one of my favorite movies of 2014. Here they document the extraordinary feat accomplished by Alex Hannold of conquering the 3,200 ft. El Capitan. While the movie does well putting everything into the proper context, in particular Alex's budding relationship with his new girlfriend, what makes this so remarkable is that we, the audience at large (whom I suspect are not experts in rock climbing, let alone free solo climbing) are shown how technical and challenging it is to climb up El Capitan, let alone doing it free solo. Alex does many trial runs to grasp and master the most difficult parts of the climb. The last half hour brings us the actual free solo climb (on June 3, 2017), and even though we know the outcome (Alex lives!), it is still stupefying and almost impossible to watch (I admit I covered my eyes on a number of occasions). There are simply no words for it.

"Free Solo" opened in late September in limited release, and immediately caused a sensation. The movie finally opened at my local art-house theater here in Cincinnati, and I couldn't wait to see it. The Friday evening screening where I saw this at was PACKED to the rafters in the largest room of the 6 screen theater, something I haven't seen in YEARS. The movie is going to be a box office smash in the art-house theater circuit, and sure to be nominated for a Best Documentary Oscar. Whether you have any interest in rock climbing or not, if you want to see one of the greatest human achievements in sports or you are a thrill-seeker, I'd readily suggest you check this out, be it in the theater, on VOD, or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray, and draw your own conclusion.