As films go German director Philipp Stolzl’s mountain climbing thriller “North Face” is a pretty rough one to sit through, but then the subject matter is no walk in the park. The film is a fictional account of the infamous 1936 attempt by four German and Austrian mountaineers to scale the North Face (nicknamed “Death Wall”) of the Eiger (”Ogre” in German), in the Swiss Alps. The young men’s race against time and weather is commanding and frightening with brilliant performances and stunning scenery. My advice, watch this film while wrapped in a cozy blanket holding a cup of warm tea.
If you want to learn more about the mountain I recommend John Harlin III’s book The Eiger Obsession: Facing the Mountain that Killed My Father.
