What if He Falls? The Terrifying Reality Behind Filming “Free Solo” | Op-Docs
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Published 2018-11-02
In “What if He Falls?” filmmakers Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin take us inside the process of documenting Honnold’s quest for climbing glory — and the ethical calculus of filming a friend who could, with the slip of a finger, plummet to his death.
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All Comments (21)
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“Sorry, forgot to press record”
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I get shaky just climbing a ladder.
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If you’ve been to Yosemite and stood at the base of this massive wall, then you can start to understand how unbelievable this feat is. I was on the edge of my seat watching the film.
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"Alex's issue is not that he could possibly die, it was that he didn't want to die in front of his friends"... wow
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He comes from a very humble background, his mom being a teacher and his dad a mountain goat..
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DO NOT start a thumb war with that man.
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Watching him do it knowing he was going to make it safely still had me on the edge the whole time. I can't imagine what it was like being there filming it not knowing if he was going to die trying. I would have been a nervous wreck and probably throwing up. What a amazing feat!
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Extremely professional crew who all comprehended the gravity of the situation and how anything they did might have an effect, positive or negative. It felt at times as if they weren't even sure if they should be there at all; point being they made all their choices around what was best for Alex. Mad respect to the whole crew for not being focused on if they "Could" do it, rather asking themselves "Should" they do it...?
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If I would climb that wall I would probably survive, too. I would fall within the first meters.
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3 years of hard training and I MIGHT be able to watch Free Solo.
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He is a LEGEND AND probably the first and last guy to ever climb this mountain without any safety .
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Big ups to the crew for being so mindful of the ethics of what they wanted to do and the safety concerns their actions would raise.
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Alex asking the guy with all the safety equipment, "are you ok?" is the second biggest unintentional flex in the history of this planet.
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This dude earned unlimited and unconditional bragging rights
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This is an extraordinary human achievement. Its hard for me to grasp how incredible this is.
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I really appreciated that the film grappled with the ethical issues surrounding such a climb. . . from many different angles. Great work!
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This is the type of route parents claim they used to go to school back in their days
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"His bigest issue was that he didnt want to die in front of his friends" bruh.....
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I know this sounds crazy, but those guys with him must have been absolutely terrified. I could not imagine being one of them. I have never even watched the documentary, as I can only watch these sort of things for a couple of minutes at a time without being overcome with ridiculous butterflies. That Honnold guy must be the bravest guy ever
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The climb and the film are both remarkable achievements in their own right.
