Free Solo, or how climbing made it to the Oscars in documentary form
Free Solo is an amazing documentary about extreme climbing. The film by Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi Chai and Jimmy Chin follows Alex Honnold in his attempt to climb El Capitan without ropes or safety harnesses. With this feat, Honnold wanted to be the first person to free climb on El Capitan in Yosemite National Park. Free Solo documents and celebrates Honnold's remarkable feat of reaching the top of Yosemite's 3,000-foot-high El Capitan Wall. without any assistance. This is a documentary about a man dedicated to extreme concentration, obsessive drive and a totally wild lifestyle, which means he lives in a van and eats mostly cans of beans heated on a hot plate.
In the documentary, Honnold comes across as someone who doesn't talk much and is prone to bluntness when he does. But we can also see how he is a thrill seeker of the highest order, a rock climber with a particular fascination for "free soloing", involving climbing steep cliffs alone, without ropes, harness or any protective equipment.
The reasons for this Free Solo of madness
Why is Honnold doing this madness? Well, this is a question that is probably impossible to answer, since there is no real rational justification for an activity that promises certain death if a single mistake is made. In any case, that is not what directors Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin are interested in answering with this must-see documentary film for any climbing enthusiast. Free SoloIt's very much about the intensity of knowing a person like Honnold, of having someone so unusual in your life. And the ways in which he bewitches, excites and frightens the people around him simply by doing his job.
The mission in Free Solo is to climb El Capitan, the 3,000-foot granite wall in Yosemite Valley. A task that, until then, was thought to be unclimbable by any method, let alone by Free Solo. But the secret star of this documentary is Honnold's girlfriend Sanni McCandless. He seems practically the only person capable of connecting on an emotional level with the protagonist. Therefore, although Free Solo follows Honnold as he meticulously plots his way up El Capitan with only his hands and feet. But it's just as exciting to watch McCandless trying to convince him to live a slightly more normal and peaceful life.
The pair of directors Vasarhelyi and Chin, a married couple who are familiar with climbing. The last film they made together was 2015's excellent Meru, which was about Chin's efforts to reach the summit of Meru Peak. That film focused more on the Himalayas and the larger metaphorical meanings climbers can assign to such feats. Climbing El Capitan without ropes is something that has literally never been done before. And it is so complex that it requires Honnold to plan every move of the route. Climbing it with ropes and safety equipment, over and over again. That process means that Honnold, the filmmakers and McCandless are acutely aware of the dangers ahead. Every new foothold or crack is unsafe and an opportunity to make a deadly mistake.
Deciphering Honnold and his love for the Free Solo
Through it all, Honnold is unperturbed. Chin delves into the details of his life story, and even looks at a map of Honnold's brain. His fear centre is not dead, but largely unresponsive to regular stimuli, says a doctor. But then again, Chin is not trying to solve the mystery of what might lead someone to do what Honnold is doing.
The result is a documentary that is fascinated by its subject without being reverent. A beautifully photographed work. With the way Vasarhelyi and Chin capture the scale of Honnold's climb breathtaking. And one that doesn't ignore the horrific consequences that lurk if he fails at any step. Honnold moves in a community that is familiar with death. All the climbers he meets and talks to throughout the film have a fatalistic air about them. But even within this group, Honnold is considered "a madman who takes too many risks".
In Alone on the Wall, a memoir published shortly before he began his early preparations for El Capitan, Honnold describes his mindset during a climb as "empty". He is aware of the danger, that there is not much room for recklessness in making a climb. Free Solo. But his success requires in part that he not think about his potential death and injury. Honnold is not robotic (he's actually kind of dumb, sometimes), but when faced with a difficult question, like the future he imagines with McCandless, he runs out of arguments easily.
As the Free Solo As Honnold and McCandless move forward, the bond between Honnold and McCandless grows stronger. Strong enough to get him out of his van lifestyle and into a house in Las Vegas. Obviously Honnold approves because of the climbing opportunities nearby. But that only makes his plans for El Capitan that much more terrifying. Even Chin, Vasarhelyi and his camera operators have to face the possibility that, in trying to make their film, they may instead capture someone's final moments. It is this deep human tension that makes Free Solo is such an exciting and rewarding documentary to watch. In short, Free Solo is a great film, one of the best climbing films to dateand you should go and see it.
Making Off
While it is true that Honnold spends the entire film expounding on his love of solitaire, behind the scenes we can see how not a single person interviewed wants him to continue the climb. Throughout the interviews we can see how Tommy Caldwell doesn't want Honnold to do it. Peter Croft, one of Honnold's predecessors at Yosemite Free-Solo, reminds Honnold that he doesn't have to do it. Honnold's girlfriend, Sanni McCandless, does her best to cheer him on, although she would prefer that Honnold not do this feat alone.
The film can be seen as an inspirational story of Honnold going against the odds and proving all the naysayers wrong to achieve something incredible. Or it can be seen as the story of a climber who went against all judgement and got away with it. You can also stay somewhere in the middle. Or you can opt for both impressions. This cognitive dissonance is what makes Free Soloan electrifying work and well worth seeing.
Cover: Honnold attempting the Free Solo in Yosemite. Image: Free Solo Documentary
