as a documentary, free solo is a rather special case cause i read so many good reviews about it on lots of media, a little unusual for a documentary. and of course it's not aired in any theatre here in this country, meh. i waited so long to be able to view it online, so i decided to watch the previous documentary made by the same filmmaker, meru, also about climbing, released back in 2015. i had a colleague who was crazy about climbing mountains and i got to listen to her talked a lot about it. but i never really had any interest on it, cause to me, on several occasions where i was forced to do such activities, i found them to be such horrendous experience. i mean i understood the whole concept of the activity and what you'd gain from it, but it just never was appealing to me. watching meru, i finally got the whole appeal of mountaineering and it seriously makes me wish i were a much more physical person with such greater goal as climbing the highest peak on earth. i mean, in the end i think it's way better to have your passion with the nature than to have it with a computer. technology is of course amazing, but as a basic human being, being with the nature gives you a greater reward in the end.
meru was initially not intended to be purposely made for a documentary. but free solo is on a completely different level. alex honnold is definitely the man and undoubtedly a superhuman, but the cinematography here deserved all praises. they were all professional climbers who shot the scenes while also climbing. and the shots of alex climbing el capitan are just mesmerizing. the contrast of the tiny little dot of the red shirt he wore in the vast greenery and rock scenes were such feast to the eye. as much as people say this movie is about courage, about reaching the impossible, i see it more like a celebration of the relationship between human being and the great nature we inhabit in. also, i finally get it why people risk their lives doing such life threatening activities like mountaineering or free soloing. and the staggering amount of people died seems understandable now. like alex said, people could die doing anything anytime, so why worry. and of course he also said, "i, in no way, feel obligated to maximize lifetime."
