By: ERKIN ESENGELDIEV
Staff Writer
Free Solo (2018) is a documentary film directed by Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin that revolves around rock climber Alex Honnold on his journey to perform a free solo climb of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park in June 2017. Free solo is a type of rock climbing in which the performer climbs without using any artificial aids or safety equipment.
If I were to describe this movie in just two words, it would be “perfection” and “perseverance”. This documentary asks a lot of questions, and one of the more important ones for me is “would you trade everything for your goal?” I asked myself throughout this movie “will he actually climb that?” but at the very end I realized: it’s not the case. The movie was not about climbing, but the things people who do free-soloing must consider, the lives that are at stake, the sacrifices made to be the one. The tension is not built through the main character’s emotions, for the most part, he doesn’t really talk about his doubts so much, but through people around him, through the stories they tell. The cinematography in this film does not feel like a plain documentary, everything, from the angles and shot compositions, to the behavior of the “characters” tricks you into thinking “it is just the movie”. But then, suddenly, you remember that it is not just a movie. You realize that these are real people and if something wrong happens, they all will be affected. The tense is strong, and I like it about this movie.