Charles and I just had the pleasure of seeing the new film Nanga Parbat, which tells the story of the ill-fated 1970 German expedition where Günther Messner died on the descent with his brother. Reinhold Messner was highly involved in the production of the film which has caused controversy and re-opened old wounds. (Read about it here)
But as far as the film goes, we enjoyed it. Maybe it was made from his point of view, and is therefore one-sided, but it also seems clear that the partnership between the brothers was unequal, with Reinhold always pushing the limit. From their parent's point of view, Günther was the weaker one, and it was Reinholds job to bring him back alive. In the film, Reinhold appears brash and unaware of (or uninterested in) this subtext of vulnerability and the need for him to take responsibility in their close relationship...with ominous results. As a viewer I appreciated that these kinds of faults were allowed to be seen.
There is some beautiful footage of the Dolomites, including some trad climbing at the beginning of the film. As a "Münchner," it was neat to see the expedition set out with fanfare from the Marienplatz, just a few blocks from where we saw the film. The music was incredible, lots of soaring slide guitar solos, perfect mountain music.
A flaw is that although there is beautiful footage of the mountain from a helicopter, it seems clear that climbing scenes were done elsewhere, possibly in the alps (speculation). There are some comically poor cutaway shots where the climbers look out at the mountains and their perspective seems to be from a plane. Mountains in those scenes often have a CGI look, and features such as avalanches were big CGI/rendering extravaganzas.
Three cheers for another good German mountain movie after Nordwand! Thanks Charles for coming along!
--Michael
