Free Solo Movie

Josh Cook wrote: Anybody know when this will be available for download? Their website doesn't say anything.

Alex posted this on his Facebook page today:

"For those that haven’t see it yet, Free Solo expands to 400 theaters around the country this weekend which is it’s widest reach yet. For those in Europe and the rest of the world: have patience, it’s rolling out over the next few months. And it will eventually show on the @natgeochannel and then be online in some way. Sorry I don’t have more details, I honestly don’t know what the whole plan is. I’ve tried to focus on the climbing and let the rest of the team work on the rest... "

Briggs Lazalde wrote:...its like the couple that is only compatible because theyve witnessed big things in each other's life but even then I wasnt that convinced...

You mean like Tommy and Beth?

"Did anyone else think that Alex and sanni don't make a great couple?"

Hey! How bout a Spoiler Alert warning for those of us who haven't seen it yet.  Damn, no need for me to bother now.

"You were going to go see the movie specifically for the love story?"

That was the best part of "The Dawn Wall" .

Chris Hill wrote: "You were going to go see the movie specifically for the love story?"

That was the best part of "The Dawn Wall" .

Wow. I didn't know that Tommy and Kevin became that close!

Marc801 C wrote:

Wow. I didn't know that Tommy and Kevin became that close!

Dawn Wall is actually the sequel to Brokeback Mountain

Ted Pinson wrote:

They’re two very different films, so I find it hard to compare.  I find Tommy’s story more inspirational because it’s a little hard to relate to Honnold, as he isn’t human.  Some of the shots of El Cap in Free Solo were absolutely breathtaking though, and I found the overall cinematography in Free Solo to be superior.  Jimmy Chin is God.

Are they really so different?

- both movies focus on a core climbing achievement that was so big that it spilled over and captured attention of non-climbers.

-both movies follow essentially the same template: background story of the main characters, with kid pictures, notable previous achievements, and parents reminiscing about the main characters; support personnel talking about how notable the achievement is, and filling in the details on the main character; main character talking about why this was such an important project for him/why was he drawn to do this; footage of the actual climbing.

Free Solo is a bigger-budget movie, It is clear that Jimmy Chin had more resources for filming, and he put those resources to excellent use. I don't think anybody would argue that the shots of El Cap in Free Solo aren't absolutely breathtaking and spectacular, certainly not me.

I keep coming back to the story overall though... And Free Solo amounts to "we struggle to watch him do this dangerous thing, but we will still shoot it and support him, even though we have conflicting emotions about it... so here it is the breathtaking footage of Alex doing it." In a sense, this is the same thing that most people, including myself, felt, when it comes to Alex's soloing. And I don't feel that the characters in this movie really articulated this feeling, beyond common platitudes. Except maybe TC. But then again, it is a hard feeling to articulate in anything but general-tired-often-repeated platitudes.

Maybe it is just, as you put it, Tommy's story is more "inspirational" to me.

A few words from Outside article on Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, co-director of "Free Solo". I think it provides a few clues to the script

During the three years between Anker, Chin, and Ozturk’s ill-fated attempt on the Shark’s Fin in 2008 and their successful redo in 2011, Ozturk was nearly killed in a terrible skiing accident and Chin miraculously survived a major avalanche. That’s all included in Meru, as are interviews with the climbers’ wives, girlfriends, and sisters—elements that existed in early iterations of the film but were reshot to bring up the emotional quotient when Vasarhelyi got involved. She helped break the mold of the typically bro-heavy genre of climber cinema and extreme-sports flicks in general. (See: the entire oeuvre of Warren Miller.) Meru delves into the fear and support that coexist in the families of these men. This, too, is largely thanks to Vasarhelyi’s influence. “It’s because I have skin in the game,” she says. In other words, because she’s in love with a guy who climbs peaks that might kill him, she needed to try to explain to herself the why of it.

Full version here - ​Free Solo's Director Doesn't Give a F**k About Climbing​​​

amarius wrote: A few words from Outside article on Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, co-director of "Free Solo". I think it provides a few clues to the script

Full version here - Free Solo's Director Doesn't Give a F**k About Climbing

Yeah, I have read it. It's a good explanation of her thought process, with a lot of background I didn't really care about, as far her her New York upbringing goes.

But just because I understand her thought process and why she wanted to focus on the feelings of the people around Alex Honnold, doesn't mean that I like the end result. Yes, people around Alex struggle with the dissonance of supporting him in doing what he loves, and the possibility of him dying while doing it. But is it really such a novel idea that, until we saw it articulated (not even well-articulated) in Free Solo movie, we had no clue that such feelings existed?

I remember years ago talking about it on RC -- someone brought up the fact that while they themselves climbed, they hoped their kids wouldn't, because they weren't sure they could cope with the risks the kids would take while climbing. And the conversation meandered towards how Alex's mother must feel. Maybe it is just easier for me to picture myself in that position, and imagine the conflicting emotions than it is for other people? I don't know. But I just didn't get anything deep and earth-shattering and insightful from hearing people talk about their ambivalence and worry... it seems quite obvious to me that they must feel that way.  

Yeah, but you're a climber. The general public, appeals to whom are what distinguish Chai's work from yr average pull-porn, hasn't necessarily had to confront these thoughts in the natural course of their lives.  And the reason this movie is in theaters is because of exactly that ability to appeal more broadly.

The click on the thread landed me on the first page where the majority of the discussion was about Sanni.

Lena chita wrote: A simple google search finds the Sanni McCandless Coaching

The About page states:

she helps people overcome the doubts and concerns that constantly get in the way of living fearlessly and feeling fulfilled.

This description cracked me up because the movie was basically about a guy who lived fearlessly and felt fulfilled while his girlfriend was all doubts and concerns. 

I believe many people are like me -- we hope that Alex Honnold will continue to excel and remain authentic, but not via pushing the risk-taking frontier, even if he's capable. I sense that this relationship he's in will indeed rein him in. Part of me feels a relief (esp. for his family and close friends), but part of me also feels at a loss, for him that is. 

Now that he's already had a sub-2hr Nose speed record in his bag, will people venture to predict what would be his future ground breaking endeavors, if any? He said in some interviews that he'd want to become strong enough to sport climb into 5.15's. That'd be a great achievement, but that's hardly ground breaking. I myself lean towards thinking that this is it, but maybe I'm just lacking imagination.

Mei (pronounced as May) wrote: The click on the thread landed me on the first page where the majority of the discussion was about Sanni.

The About page states:

This description cracked me up because the movie was basically about a guy who lived fearlessly and felt fulfilled while his girlfriend was all doubts and concerns. 

I believe many people are like me -- we hope that Alex Honnold will continue to excel and remain authentic, but not via pushing the risk-taking frontier, even if he's capable. I sense that this relationship he's in will indeed rein him in. Part of me feels a relief (esp. for his family and close friends), but part of me also feels at a loss, for him that is. 

Now that he's already had a sub-2hr Nose speed record in his bag, will people venture to predict what would be his future ground breaking endeavors, if any? He said in some interviews that he'd want to become strong enough to sport climb into 5.15's. That'd be a great achievement, but that's hardly ground breaking. I myself lean towards thinking that this is it, but maybe I'm just lacking imagination.

Let’s hope so, Mei. How you doin’? It’s been awhile. 

Mei (pronounced as May) wrote: The click on the thread landed me on the first page where the majority of the discussion was about Sanni.

The About page states:

This description cracked me up because the movie was basically about a guy who lived fearlessly and felt fulfilled while his girlfriend was all doubts and concerns. 

Lol, Mei gets it fellas.

I believe many people are like me -- we hope that Alex Honnold will continue to excel and remain authentic, but not via pushing the risk-taking frontier, even if he's capable. I sense that this relationship he's in will indeed rein him in. Part of me feels a relief (esp. for his family and close friends), but part of me also feels at a loss, for him that is. 

I hope he does what he wants to do and not let others doubts "rein him in".

Now that he's already had a sub-2hr Nose speed record in his bag, will people venture to predict what would be his future ground breaking endeavors, if any? He said in some interviews that he'd want to become strong enough to sport climb into 5.15's. That'd be a great achievement, but that's hardly ground breaking. I myself lean towards thinking that this is it, but maybe I'm just lacking imagination.

I dont really think he can do better than the solo, unless he hits the high peaks, but that will kill him way faster than any solos. Retire on top, bro.

Lena chita wrote: I keep coming back to the story overall though... And Free Solo amounts to "we struggle to watch him do this dangerous thing, but we will still shoot it and support him, even though we have conflicting emotions about it... so here it is the breathtaking footage of Alex doing it." In a sense, this is the same thing that most people, including myself, felt, when it comes to Alex's soloing. And I don't feel that the characters in this movie really articulated this feeling, beyond common platitudes. Except maybe TC. But then again, it is a hard feeling to articulate in anything but general-tired-often-repeated platitudes.

In a sense you are right but I think in reality how you feel about Alex soloing is very different than how I felt while shooting Free Solo.  A couple fundamental differences, first there was zero chance that you were going to see Alex die in front of you.  The emotional risk of having to watch that happen is extremely high verse learning that Alex died through normal media outlets.  Those experiences aren’t even comparable.  Secondly if Alex was to die while I was filming there was a good chance my life and career would drastically change.  Just imagine how I would be viewed in the media, on MP.com, on supertopo, by climbers and the general public?  There is a good chance I would be viewed as being complicit in Alex’s death.  Pile that on top of how I would already feel about losing a close friend.  I think that weight could of easily crushed me.  Just the thought of all that being a reality was extremely emotionally taxing.  It took me months after we finished shooting to feel normal again.  I can’t be certain how you would of reacted and the impacts it would of had on your life but I would be surprised if it was similar.  

And yes, I'd say the emotions I felt while working on Free Solo are EXTREMELY hard to articulate and something I still struggle to do.  Hopefully the above does shed a bit more light on it though.

Mikey Schaefer wrote: In a sense you are right but I think in reality how you feel about Alex soloing is very different than how I felt while shooting Free Solo.  A couple fundamental differences, first there was zero chance that you were going to see Alex die in front of you.  The emotional risk of having to watch that happen is extremely high verse learning that Alex died through normal media outlets.  Those experiences aren’t even comparable.  Secondly if Alex was to die while I was filming there was a good chance my life and career would drastically change.  Just imagine how I would be viewed in the media, on MP.com, on supertopo, by climbers and the general public?  There is a good chance I would be viewed as being complicit in Alex’s death.  Pile that on top of how I would already feel about losing a close friend.  I think that weight could of easily crushed me.  Just the thought of all that being a reality was extremely emotionally taxing.  It took me months after we finished shooting to feel normal again.  I can’t be certain how you would of reacted and the impacts it would of had on your life but I would be surprised if it was similar.  

And yes, I'd say the emotions I felt while working on Free Solo are EXTREMELY hard to articulate and something I still struggle to do.  Hopefully the above does shed a bit more light on it though.

Nice post. I certainly wouldn't place ANY blame on you if he died and I don't understand how a person could be so vile as to put any blame on you. Anyone who would would be making a selfish act, looking for someone to blame. Lame-o.

Honnold makes his own choices (that's true freedom) and no one is to blame for what happens.

Well said Mikey Schaefer and thanks for sharing your thoughts!

I, while not knowingly religious, can't help but thinking that there was a guardian angel (I have the image of his father in my head) who ensured every one of the thousand small things -- hard or harder -- all went perfectly on his big day on top of his thorough preparation. I'm glad that he intervened; otherwise, so many people's lives would be forever altered, and not for the better. 

Mei (pronounced as May) wrote:
The About page states:

This description cracked me up because the movie was basically about a guy who lived fearlessly and felt fulfilled while his girlfriend was all doubts and concerns. 

Feeling scared for your significant other that takes huge risks, and being a life coach helping people face their own fears, are not mutually exclusive...

Andy Novak wrote:

Feeling scared for your significant other that takes huge risks, and being a life coach helping people face their own fears, are not mutually exclusive...

I’m guessing that Mei was commenting on the stereotypically badass dude with an insecure wife/girlfriend. This trope has been played out in countless films. 

Andy Novak wrote:

Feeling scared for your significant other that takes huge risks, and being a life coach helping people face their own fears, are not mutually exclusive...

You are correct. My play with the words is not fair, but it was the very first thought that popped into my mind when I saw those words together.

As for feeling scared for the loved ones, it reminded me of rock master Dave MacLeod's recent Vlog #7: Most scared I've ever been on Youtube.  Both Alex's mom and Sanni are significant figures in his life (at least the latter became one), so it is very interesting and thought provoking to see their attitudes toward someone they both love. According to books, interviews, and the movie, it appears to me that his mom never tried to dissuade him from his pursuits. To the contrary, it was shown that Sanni tried, or at least hinted. I think she, in the movie, said something to the effect of something like she bit her tongue sometimes when he did something kinda crazy (maybe it was around the time of him leading in the gym with an ankle in cast) because they were not married. (Someone correct me if my memory is way off.)  I say the contrast was thought provoking because we all have people we care about, want them to succeed, and also want them to be safe and secure. Many wants can sometimes be self contradictory. We all deal with them in our own ways based on our own priorities, I suppose.

On a related note, I also find Tommy Caldwell's comments about "mental armor" thought provoking, but I should shut up now. 

I read yet another review of this movie on the New York Times website. One of the reader comments was profound:

"Bret, as the mother of an extreme athlete, a rock climber who I know would have agreed that, either you get it right or you're going to die, I can't watch the film.

All those years ago when my young son, Dean Potter was at the top of his climbing career, I could agree with Honnold's mom, "How can you even think of taking that away from somebody?" Today, 3 years, 5 months and 10 days since Dean fell to his death B.A.S.E. jumping off of El Cap, I feel like you, Bret, its not supposed to be that way, a parent shouldn't have to bury their child.

Dean admired Alex and would have cheered him on. I send him every blessing I can think of".
Patricia