In another life time, I worked for the Utah bank that both helped attract the 2002 Winter Olympics and make the state a center of extreme sports. I heard about the catastrophic falls and the near misses from men and women who survived them. I liked how crazy but calm the climbers were.
"Alpinism" is man against mountain. An Alpinist doesn't conquer a mountain. He conquers himself. He doesn't climb for the glory and he doesn't climb for the money. He climbs because he HAS to climb.
Marc-Andre Leclerc is the goofy and amiable Canadian kid who is the subject of the movie. He isn't well known outside the community of his sport, but, for those who follow it, he's a rare combination of a genius and magician. While others fall all over themselves fawning over his bravery and technical skills as he climbs a wall of "melting ice, he chuckles over his success with, "It was super fun. Yeah."
Really? Because to me, your "super fun" looks like walking on air. It seems impossible.
You don't have to like extreme sports, mountain life, etc. To love this film. You just have to appreciate the beauty of this planet and the adventure it is to live on it. Let the gorgeous cinematography, the astonishing clips of the climbs and the ebullience of Leclerc and his admirers take you with them.
The most important thing a human being can do is be true to himself. Leclerc really knows how. He climbs alone because he knows how dangerous it is, and he doesn't want to hurt anyone else.
Now, the tough part. What the hell was his mother thinking when she encouraged his high risk taking behavior? ADHD isn't a death sentence. It's a warning that the person who has it needs extra help learning how to take care of himself, because he isn't the best judge about what is good for him. Encouraging him to do what he wanted to do (without helping him learn better decision making skills) may sound like inspirational parenting, BUT LOOK HOW IT TURNED OUT.
The documentary avoids interviews with people who didn't consider Leclerc inspirational. It only asks for comments from other people who are involved in high risk, extreme sports.
Surely, someone who knew this kid understood the difference between "brave" and "suicidal," but it wasn't his mother or the many friends who seemed to have encouraged what turned out to be lunacy,
"Alpinism" is man against mountain. An Alpinist doesn't conquer a mountain. He conquers himself. He doesn't climb for the glory and he doesn't climb for the money. He climbs because he HAS to climb.
Marc-Andre Leclerc is the goofy and amiable Canadian kid who is the subject of the movie. He isn't well known outside the community of his sport, but, for those who follow it, he's a rare combination of a genius and magician. While others fall all over themselves fawning over his bravery and technical skills as he climbs a wall of "melting ice, he chuckles over his success with, "It was super fun. Yeah."
Really? Because to me, your "super fun" looks like walking on air. It seems impossible.
You don't have to like extreme sports, mountain life, etc. To love this film. You just have to appreciate the beauty of this planet and the adventure it is to live on it. Let the gorgeous cinematography, the astonishing clips of the climbs and the ebullience of Leclerc and his admirers take you with them.
The most important thing a human being can do is be true to himself. Leclerc really knows how. He climbs alone because he knows how dangerous it is, and he doesn't want to hurt anyone else.
Now, the tough part. What the hell was his mother thinking when she encouraged his high risk taking behavior? ADHD isn't a death sentence. It's a warning that the person who has it needs extra help learning how to take care of himself, because he isn't the best judge about what is good for him. Encouraging him to do what he wanted to do (without helping him learn better decision making skills) may sound like inspirational parenting, BUT LOOK HOW IT TURNED OUT.
The documentary avoids interviews with people who didn't consider Leclerc inspirational. It only asks for comments from other people who are involved in high risk, extreme sports.
Surely, someone who knew this kid understood the difference between "brave" and "suicidal," but it wasn't his mother or the many friends who seemed to have encouraged what turned out to be lunacy,