Free Solo is the Academy Award winning Best Documentary for 2019. It is about Alex Honnold, a rock climber who set a goal for himself to scale El Capitan in Yosemite National Park without the use of the usual safety gear. The film is rated PG-13 for brief strong language.
I knew about rock climbing. It is not a sport I choose to engage in. But I am fascinated by people who are single minded in their purpose, and have a strong desire to achieve what seems to be the impossible. Alex is just such a person.
Amazing to me was the incredible cinematography that created this inspiring film. The filmmakers are themselves rock climbers, and so they could position themselves on the rock face near where Alex was climbing for filming.
Free Solo is not just about the climb itself, it reviews how Alex became the man he is today, his childhood and early youth. It also explores how someone who takes the risks he does has perhaps a different brain chemistry than we who stay at home and just watch him do it. Actually, I watched the film in the theater, and if you can see it on the big screen I recommend it. Perhaps it will come to an art cinema near you. The scenery is so magnificent, and it made me want to visit Yosemite even more. Sadly, I have not yet been to that National Park; it’s on my must do list.
Have you engaged in extreme sports? Did you see Free Solo? Does Alex inspire you to achieve your goals with new determination?
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