North Face (film)
Encyclopedia
North Face is a 2008 German
historical fiction
film based on a famous 1936 attempt to climb the Eiger
north face.
via the north face by two competing climbing teams. The more prominently featured pair of German climbers are Toni Kurz
(Fürmann
) and Andi Hinterstoisser
(Lukas) from Berchtesgaden
. (Berchtesgaden is now widely known as the location of Hitler's home throughout that decade.) They have got leave from the German army in order to make their attempt, falsely claiming one of them is getting married and the other is to be Best Man. They are portrayed as being more interested in mountaineering than in the current politics of the time. The competing team of Austrians
who eventually team up with the German team are portrayed as hoping for a Nazi-led incorporation of Austria into Germany
. A major subplot involves a principled young newspaper
employee (and hometown friend of the German climbers; Wokalek
) whose career the climbing story could launch, and her cynical superior (Tukur
).
, Switzerland
and Austria
, the film was released in several non-German speaking countries including the United States
, United Kingdom
, Italy
and Japan
from 2009-2010, receiving favorable reviews throughout. North Face won the German Film Award for Best Cinematography
and Best Sound and the German Film Critics Award for Best Screenplay
and Best Cinematography.
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
historical fiction
Historical fiction
Historical fiction tells a story that is set in the past. That setting is usually real and drawn from history, and often contains actual historical persons, but the principal characters tend to be fictional...
film based on a famous 1936 attempt to climb the Eiger
Eiger
The Eiger is a mountain in the Bernese Alps in Switzerland. It is the easternmost peak of a ridge crest that extends across the Mönch to the Jungfrau at 4,158 m...
north face.
Plot
The movie portrays an attempt in 1936 to summit the EigerEiger
The Eiger is a mountain in the Bernese Alps in Switzerland. It is the easternmost peak of a ridge crest that extends across the Mönch to the Jungfrau at 4,158 m...
via the north face by two competing climbing teams. The more prominently featured pair of German climbers are Toni Kurz
Toni Kurz
Toni Kurz was a German mountain climber of the early 20th century who had many first ascents with his childhood friend Andreas Hinterstoisser...
(Fürmann
Benno Fürmann
Benjamin "Benno" Fürmann is a German film and television actor.-Life and work:Fürmann was born in Berlin-Kreuzberg. By the age of 15 he had lost both his parents. At 17, he had a serious accident while train surfing, and had to spend six weeks in the hospital as a result...
) and Andi Hinterstoisser
Andreas Hinterstoisser
Andreas Hinterstoißer, transliterated Hinterstoisser, was a German mountain climber of the early 20th century.-Climbing the Eiger:...
(Lukas) from Berchtesgaden
Berchtesgaden
Berchtesgaden is a municipality in the German Bavarian Alps. It is located in the south district of Berchtesgadener Land in Bavaria, near the border with Austria, some 30 km south of Salzburg and 180 km southeast of Munich...
. (Berchtesgaden is now widely known as the location of Hitler's home throughout that decade.) They have got leave from the German army in order to make their attempt, falsely claiming one of them is getting married and the other is to be Best Man. They are portrayed as being more interested in mountaineering than in the current politics of the time. The competing team of Austrians
Austrians
Austrians are a nation and ethnic group, consisting of the population of the Republic of Austria and its historical predecessor states who share a common Austrian culture and Austrian descent....
who eventually team up with the German team are portrayed as hoping for a Nazi-led incorporation of Austria into Germany
Anschluss
The Anschluss , also known as the ', was the occupation and annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany in 1938....
. A major subplot involves a principled young newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
employee (and hometown friend of the German climbers; Wokalek
Johanna Wokalek
Johanna Wokalek is a German stage and film actress. A student of Klaus Maria Brandauer, she received critical recognition and three newcomer awards for her performance in the play Rose Bernd. Wokalek is best known for her award-winning appearances in the German films Hierankl, Barfuss, and The...
) whose career the climbing story could launch, and her cynical superior (Tukur
Ulrich Tukur
Ulrich Tukur is a German actor and musician.-Biography:Tukur spent his youth near Hanover where he finished his final secondary-school examinations in 1977. He also achieved a high school degree in Boston during an exchange of students where he met his first wife, Amber Wood. With her, he had two...
).
Response
After a successful theatrical run in GermanyGermany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
and Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, the film was released in several non-German speaking countries including the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
and Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
from 2009-2010, receiving favorable reviews throughout. North Face won the German Film Award for Best Cinematography
Cinematography
Cinematography is the making of lighting and camera choices when recording photographic images for cinema. It is closely related to the art of still photography...
and Best Sound and the German Film Critics Award for Best Screenplay
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
and Best Cinematography.
Historical elements of the plot
- German government publicity did draw attention to German and Austrian mountaineering, and to climbing the North Face in particular, as matters of German national and ethnic pride.
- The names and nationalities of the members of the historical single team of four who set out to attempt the ascent together correspond to those of the members of the two fictional teams.
- Like the fictional Andi and Toni, the historical Andreas HinterstoisserAndreas HinterstoisserAndreas Hinterstoißer, transliterated Hinterstoisser, was a German mountain climber of the early 20th century.-Climbing the Eiger:...
and Toni KurzToni KurzToni Kurz was a German mountain climber of the early 20th century who had many first ascents with his childhood friend Andreas Hinterstoisser...
did have a shared association with Berchtesgaden, having, two years before their deaths, established a route together on the Berchtesgadener HochthronBerchtesgadener HochthronThe Berchtesgaden Hochthron is the highest peak of the Unterberg massif in Berchtesgaden Alps in Berchtesgaden, Bavaria, Germany.The summit of the Berchtesgaden Hochthron offers one of the best views of the Berchtesgaden region, because it has an unobstructed view over the Berchtesgaden valley as...
. - The route of the historical team is essentially as portrayed in the film.
- The rope that Hinterstoisser placed on the Hinterstoisser Traverse, and was used by the others to cross, was removed before the last team member continued upward.
- When recovered, the corpse of one of the Austrian climbers showed he had been bandaged for a head wound.
- During the descent Andi did attempt to cross the area known as Hinterstoisser Traverse using the pendulum traverse, as he had the ascent, and gave up when he realised his efforts were futile. (Even though the scene in the movie is short, Andi tried for hours but to no avail)
- A rope supporting two climbers was cut
- to move forward with the attempt at rescue (rather than in crisis of the next seconds or few minutes),
- below the climber doing the cutting (rather by one of climbers dropping as a result),
- on instructions from the rescuers, and
- after the two appeared beyond communicating or helping in their own rescue.
- After the avalancheAvalancheAn avalanche is a sudden rapid flow of snow down a slope, occurring when either natural triggers or human activity causes a critical escalating transition from the slow equilibrium evolution of the snow pack. Typically occurring in mountainous terrain, an avalanche can mix air and water with the...
, Kurz:- was the only team member with hope for survival,
- had lost a glove and found the corresponding arm stiff and useless,
- communicated with would-be rescuers at the tunnel "window",
- unravelled a rope using teeth and one hand over the course of five hours, producing a longer cord which he lowered so an additional rope could be tied to it and sent up for the rest of his descent,
- was trapped, unable to lower himself further toward the rescuers, when he was unable to pass through a carabinerCarabinerA carabiner or karabiner is a metal loop with a sprung or screwed gate that is used to quickly and reversibly connect components in safety-critical systems. The word comes from "Karabinerhaken", meaning "hook for a carbine" in German.-Use:...
the knot that he had tied to join the longer rope and the rope that was supporting him, and - announced to the rescuers his own demise.
- All four died in the attempt.
- AnschlussAnschlussThe Anschluss , also known as the ', was the occupation and annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany in 1938....
between Germany and Austria had substantial public support in Austria, and was effected in 1938.