The Sharp End Reviewed

There aren’t a lot of climbing films that I watch the day I receive them, generally I like to sit down with friends to see the latest adventure and sometimes they arrive in the middle of the week. But not this time, I had high expectations and every intention of watching the Sharp End as soon as I had it in hand.

The ante in the climbing film genre has definitely been raised, though without doubt, it will fan the flames of peoples’ preconceptions of climbing. The Sharp End captures in detail, the perception of how non climbers view climbing; dangerous, on the edge of the void. This is simply a different realm of climbing. It’s not a film that gets your palms sweaty, that happens when you can relate to what you’re watching, in the spirit of good porn. Instead, for an hour your heart gets to pump considerably faster as you are immersed in riskier and riskier climbing, or?

Well, at least the stakes get higher, that is, the level of control the climbers display increases with the magnitude of the ascent. You are not left, as climbing films tend to, with the feeling that you too could do this, unless you are already familiar with the possibility of certain death. In that sense, this film reaches to a much larger audience, beyond just climbers and to adrenaline junkies of all varieties. It’s this cross over that Peter Mortimer executes flawlessly as he guides you from one rush to the next with the stakes increasing at each step. How else do you relate to pulling your b.a.s.e rig after a botched free solo? Or the soloist calmly recounting that before this paradigm shift a mistake meant death while now it means flying.

The Sharp End definitely lives up to it’s name in a broad sweep of vibrant characters living on the edge yet it only alludes to the secret of thrill seekers of all stripes, the search for that infinitesimal moment of clarity, focus, stillness. Instead, you are repeatedly brought back from the edge by the voice of a jacked up American thrill seeker. Dude, the visual magnitude belies the need for any SoCal connotations. That said, it’s unlikely that the Sharp End will inspire, that requires a desire to emulate. However, it will amaze and sets a new standard for climbing films.

The Sharp End DVD is available from http://www.tielma.com/ for 295 kr.