Not quite the revolution that Steve Jobs promised but pretty darn slick. I downloaded the Netflix app and before I could click my heels three times I was watching the - just released - video "North Face." Be reminded, this is historical fiction, although most of the story line and climbing sequences are accurate. It was a fabulous climbing film, perhaps the best ever made. For a climber there would have been enough magic, pathos, and heart-stopping moments if they had scrupulously recreated the Rainer-Angerer-Kurz-and Hinterstoisser tragedy, however I suppose the film was enhanced for the average viewer with the addition of the overlaid romance and Nazi background. Still, the artistic liberties taken: portraying the Swiss guides as "oh so helpful," and "going out on a limb" so to speak, or the tired cinematic cliche of cutting the rope, or even the unearthing of gear at the Death Bivouac, all rankled a serious historian.
Given those qualifiers, I strongly recommend this German film with English sub-titles. (When you are done no doubt you will go to your book collection and want to re-read "The White Spider.")
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