It may come as a surprise to most people who've seen Touching the Void that Joe Simpson and Simon Yates (and Richard Hawkings, later on) actually returned to Siula Grande to make some of the Docu-Drama. Most of the shots that couldn't be repeated in the Alps (where the actors would reenact the story) were actually carried out by Joe and Simon themselves. A truly painful shot is when Joe is preparing, all by himself, to reenact his painful crawl across the rocky area at the base of the mountain. He explains how amazingly difficult it was to be back, and approaches a nervous breakdown, all the while the camera is filming. Poor guy...
This is an amazing side-documentary, and if you've got the DVD, you've got this bit, and if you don't have the DVD, buy it, and don't miss this bit.
This is an amazing side-documentary, and if you've got the DVD, you've got this bit, and if you don't have the DVD, buy it, and don't miss this bit.
