Marc-André Leclerc climbs alone, on remote alpine faces. No cameras, no rope, and no margin for error. Climbing for Leclerc is spiritual and brings peace to his roaming mind. He doesn't climb for awards or notoriety. He climbs mountains for the purest of all reasons: because they are there.
Co-directors Peter Mortimer and Nick Rosen are climbers themselves. Their talented eyes balance the wonders of the mountain top views with the dangers that one slip can bring. Fans of the Oscar winner Free Solo should seek out Mortimer's The Dawn Wall, which is an equally-compelling documentary also filmed at El Capitan.
Here, both Mortimer and Rosen's talents are tested with The Alpinist as free spirit Leclerc is not one who sits still. Nor does he exhibit the patience for the schedules of film crews let alone delays due to the weather. Leclerc notoriously climbs solo. He disappears, and not only when climbing. He is always seeking solitary space. When the cameras are able to capture him hard at play, the end result is spectacular.
Similar to other mountaineering documentaries, The Alpinist is a story of perseverance and strength. Unlike others, The Alpinist does not merely balance on the edge of triumph and tragedy, but intermixes the two into a gut-punch of a finale. Marc-André Leclerc is an incredible climber whose spirit is as indomitable as the peaks he summits. Leclerc, in all his humility, is quite the beacon for those who wish to overcome any obstacle, be it addiction, mental illness, or that mountain on the horizon. Through Leclerc, the human adventure continues.
