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Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival
Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival

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30 OCT 2000 - 05 NOV 2000

Riley & Matt: At the Movies

Riley Morton Reporting for MountainZone.com
Riley's Reviews:

The Ice Mummies

I don't know what it is about National Geographic, but they are constantly producing amazing work. This 32-minute documentary continues this pattern with a tale about a group of world-class high-altitude archaeologists.

Following archaeologist Johann Reinhard and his team to the top of 22,000 foot Mt. Llullailloco on the border between Chile and Argentina, we observe as the team unearths a small miracle: three young children sacrificed to the Inca gods about 500 years ago.

The bodies have been perfectly mummified by the constant cold of the air, and are instantly recognized to be "Argentina's patrimony" by Reinhard. The drama of the story has just begun as we observe the team bringing the mummies and artifacts down and attempting to get everything into the right hands and into cold storage to avoid any damage to the priceless treasures.

An expertly crafted film by producers Kevin Krug and Gail MacFaraquhar, 'The Ice Mummies' tells an important and fascinating story set in one of the world's most beautiful landscapes: The high Andes.

Tamangur

Described by Banff promotional materials to be a "poem of a film," I was very hesitant walking into this film. But after seeing it, I've realized that there is, perhaps, no better way to describe how this film plays out.

Utilizing little more than gorgeously rendered visuals and a sparse original soundtrack, filmmaker Stephen MacMillan brings us the story of a unique artist who carries his own giant canvases deep into Switzerland's wilds to paint the natural wonders all around him. Using only charcoal, white paint, and his hands, our protagonist creates impressionistic and yet somehow very real interpretations of surrounding mountains and unique dead trees.

The lack of a clearly defined goal for the film combined with its almost agonizingly long shots and slow dissolves must have turned off many of the Banff audience. I, on the other hand, found it to be incredibly refreshing in a world of ever faster cuts and fast moving visuals. The peace and serenity which the film exudes stayed with me for some time.

Downwalling

I'm always up for seeing a comedy - especially if it has anything to do with climbing. But if you saw 'A Night at the Roxbury' a couple of years back, then you understand that one joke does not a whole film make.

A fairly clever concept of a mockumentary about the new sport of 'Downwalling' from Czech directors Lubomir Slavik and Jaromir Zid started with three minutes of laughs, followed by 23 minutes of yawns. Making extensive use of reverse photography and low production qualities (hopefully for its campy qualities), the filmmakers showed how the new generation of 'downwallers' have perfected techniques for throwing the ends of ropes through rappel rings, climbing down, avoiding beautiful "Downwalling groupies," and then "de-beering" (regurgitating beer) at the end of a long day at the crag.

Again, the concept is a good one, but the execution lacks any restraint, and the result left me, along with much of the audience, groaning.

Y2sKi

I've almost gotten used to seeing the new Dominique Perret ski film every year at the touring Banff Mountain Film Festival. And it appears that like so many successful ski filmmakers, Perret and his cinematographer partner, Didier Lafond, have found their formula for "what makes a good ski film" and are sticking with it. And with apparent sponsorship from nearly the entire European ski industry, who can blame him?

Too bad the films are boring.

Even though the cinematography (and skiing) is maybe the best in the industry, the creative forces behind Y2sKi just miss the mark. Euro-style techno alternates with bizarre operatic segments with black and white footage of Perret skiing in slo-mo. These diversions don't seem to serve any purpose other than breaking up the monotony of the amazing footage of Perret skiing with the euro-style techno. It doesn't work.

War and Poetry

Following on the heels of a presentation by the world's greatest mountaineer, Reinhold Messner, is no easy task. But Todd Skinner succeeded wildly with that challenge on Friday night in the Banff Centre's Eric Harvie Theatre with a live narration of his film "War and Poetry."

The film, produced for National Geographic, features a first ascent on a remote big wall in Greenland: Ulamertorsuaq. Bringing three Wyoming cowboy buddies along for the ride, Skinner leads the journey pushing up a beautiful 3000+ foot wall. The four are very comfortable together, naturally, and joke constantly about anything and everything. And with Skinner narrating the film live, the laughs were plentiful in the theatre.

I enjoyed the film immensely, totally buying Skinner's act. The cinematography was spectacular, the goal exciting, and the fun factor very high. Skinner has a polished, almost Hollywood, feel to him, but the audience loves him all the same, and he just whetted our appetite for what would prove to be many more amazing climbing films over the next three days.

Matt's Reviews:

Riley Morton Reporting for MountainZone.com
Yosemite: Ascending Rhythm

Most rock climbing films fall into two categories: fast-paced bouldering flicks with high-energy soundtracks and fast-paced sport climbing flicks with high-energy soundtracks. Ascending Rhythm takes a different path, as filmmaker Sterling Johnson draws on veteran Yosemite climber Ron Kauk's vision of both the placement of a climber within Yosemite's landscape and the sense of spirit that the valley imbues.

I really enjoyed the visual aspects of this film. Many times, rock climbers focus too much on the immediate route and not its place within the overall environment. Through dramatic wide angle shots, the viewer is reminded of the physical beauty of where we climb.

The movie features the climbing talents of Kauk, Steph Davis, Dean Potter, Brittany Griffith and several others. The only thing stopping me from giving a whole-hearted recommendation of this film is the soundtrack. I found the rhythmless, ambient music disrupting, as it failed - in my mind - to mesh with rhythm of the climbers and the environment.

Beyond Gravity

One staple of this year's festival is the abundance of short films, ranging from completed works, to teasers of upcoming films of greater length. Beyond Gravity falls into the second category. Over the past year and a half, a trio of filmmakers from Vancouver, Canada, has amassed footage from the full spectrum of climbing, from mountaineering and traditional ice climbing to sport climbing and modern mixed climbing.

The cast of climbers includes Peter Croft, Katie Brown, Sean Isaac and Barry Blanchard. The fast-paced short left me begging for more. The full-length show is set to debut on December 8, but I'm not sure I can last that long. Hurry up, fellas!

Reticent Wall

Overall, this documentary about Slovenian super-alpinist Tomaz Humar's 1998 ascent of the Reticent Wall - an A5 aid route on Yosemite's El Capitan - was very disappointing. The movie opens with a synopsis of Humar's early Himalayan career that fails to put across just how amazingly demented and talented Humar is. Each notable ascent is quickly glossed over without elaboration.

While the movie featured some monologue from Humar that details the physical and technical challenges of the Reticent Wall, it gives no insight into why he does what he does. What motivates him to pursue climbs with such a high level of risk and commitment? You won't get the answer here.

Columbia

This short film - only about five minutes in length - is a mellow, groovy show of some outstanding backcountry freeskiing in the Selkirk Mountains of British Columbia. Many ski filmmakers these days are following a pat formula of charged-up music to accompany the skiing, but these guys take a different approach. Melding down-tempo, funky music with great cinematography that reveals the openness and scope of the terrain, they have created a nifty little short that will hopefully lead to something bigger in the future.

No Strings Attached

A 15-minute boulder-fest with some of Canada's best pulling hard on the small stones of British Columbia. This movie has great shots, smooth, kinetic editing and a powerful soundtrack, all of which put it ahead of most bouldering flicks out there. Unfortunately, it lacks any storyline and doesn't leave you with any sense of who the boulderers are or how they struggled to achieve the styley ascents that made it into the film. Josh Lowell's outstanding bouldering video, Free Hueco, remains the top dog.

A Higher Calling

I don't paraglide and probably never will. So why am I picking a paragliding movie as one of my favorites of the festival? One simple reason. This film transcends the boundaries of its particular niche sport and makes you realize what draws you to play and test yourself in the outdoor arena.

Despite being a relatively low-budget, digital video affair, this documentary of six comrades on a paragliding expedition to Nepal makes excellent use of helmet cams, introspective narration and atmospheric wide-angle shots to pull you out of your theater seat and up into the air with the pilots. From dealing with turbulent take-offs to flying with huge Himalayan griffons, you really get a sense of why these guys accept the risks of their sport, in exchange for the sense of freedom and increased awareness that it brings.

Whether you climb, paraglide, ski, snowboard, kayak or mountain bike, you should not miss this movie.

Riley Morton and Matt Stanley, MountainZone.com Staff

Riley Morton is an independent filmmaker who has released Detours and Locals Only. Matt Stanley is an avid climber and climbing editor of MountainZone.com

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