Overview
“North Face (Nordwand)” is a 2008 German historical drama film based on the true story of the 1936 competition to climb the Eiger north face of the Bernese Alps, Switzerland for the first time.
Directed by Philipp Stölzl. 127 minutes.
Plot
In Germany just before the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, the Nazi regime treats conquering the 5,900-foot north face of the Eiger, then unconquered, as an opportunity to boost their nationalistic pride, and promotes it heavily through mass media for political propaganda.
Two amateur climbers from Berchtesgaden, Bavaria, Toni Kurz (Benno Fürmann) and Andreas Hinterstoisser (Florian Lukas), who are Gebirgsjäger (light infantry of the mountain troops) of the German army, decide to try to scale the Eiger north face.
A novice journalist at a Berlin newspaper, Luise Fellner (Johanna Wokalek), who is a childhood friend of Toni and Andi, goes on a visit to the base of the north face with her superior to cover the competition to climb the north face.
Commentary
The sequences of climbing the face in the latter half shot with heavy use of handheld camera are realistic and worth seeing.
