Free Solo

Free Solo profiles rock climber Alex Honnold, as he prepares to climb Yosemite National Park’s monolithic granite wall El Capitan. The film explores the singular focus and obsessive drive of its protagonist—who has devoted his life to the rare, death-defying practice of “free soloing,” in which the climber uses no ropes or safety gear of any kind. We learn how El Capitan represents a crowning jewel in such a career, as no one climber has ever even attempted free soloing the nearly vertical 3,000 foot rock face. We also gain insight into the unique mind and odd personality of Honnold, who lives out of his van, eats only the veggies he cooks on his hotplate, and has little time for social graces or lasting relationships. But during the years Honnold prepares for his challenging assent, he starts to date a fascinating woman, Sanni McCandless, who patiently navigates his spectrum-like temperament to connect with him and become his partner. How this relationship (and his consent to be the subject of the film) will affect the most challenging climb of his life are central questions raised by award-winning filmmakers Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin.

The film should be the year’s most riveting picture, chronicling an incredible undertaking in which one single mistake would result in instant death. But Vasarhelyi and Chin don’t seem to grasp the intrinsic physical and human drama in the story they’re telling. They assemble the movie like a reality-TV show: laying endless, redundant voiceover under nearly every shot of Honnold climbing, and constantly cutting to testimonial-style interviews where the subjects explain the process, stakes, and emotional implications of the undertaking. But unlike an episode of reality-TV, there is no need to goose the drama or the audience’s emotional investment in what we see on screen. Honnold and the filmmakers already do an excellent job of explaining the art of free soloing and the specifics of this climb with simple titles, graphics superimposed on the rock face, and footage of Honnold figuring out the most difficult areas of the assent, so the additional explanations are unnecessary. 

That Vasarhelyi and Chin don’t trust the power of their subject and the amazing footage they’ve captured is infuriating.  If only they had allowed us watch Honnold climbing in silence, and observe the way he relates to his girlfriend and fellow climbers without all the banal and repetitive commentary. The filmmakers also focus a fair amount of screen time on themselves and the difficulty in capturing breathtaking footage of Honnold without getting in his way or throwing him off his game. This element of the movie is entirely appropriate, as questions about how a film like this gets photographed will inevitably cross the mind of most audience members, and watching Chin and the other camera operators prepare their approach in capturing the climb makes for an interesting parallel to seeing Honnold get ready to do it.

After over-preparing viewers, I hoped that, once the final assent began in earnest, the filmmakers would pull back and just let us experience the climb with Honnold. But instead, we see and hear their experience of watching him even more than before. The crosscutting of Honnold’s peace and joy during the climb with the camera operators fear and anxiety is meant to heighten the stakes and tension for the audience. Yes, that’s right, these filmmakers think that the stakes and tension around a guy climbing a 3,000 foot vertical mountain with no safety gear, where one small misstep would be fatal, requires heightening! Free Solo is a powerful and visually stunning film, but it’s also the year’s most frustrating disappointment.

Twitter Capsule:
Powerful, visually stunning documentary about a fascinating character, criminally botched by filmmakers who don’t seem to grasp the intrinsic physical and human drama in the story they’re telling.