Reviews

Just so you know, I do not speak German or climb mountains (or anything else) however, Am Limit is accessible and dramatic enough to overcome my limitations. The scenery is brutal and gorgeous, and the action is gripping. Unlike "Touching the Void", there seems to be a strong bond of trust between the climbers and the crew, allowing us to see some spectacularly death defying footage in intimate close-up. The camera also manages to capture the spirit of place - the aloof ice princesses that are the Torres Del Paine, in the Patagonian wilderness; and the gentler charm of the Yosemite valley in late summer. There are very clear shots of the climbing routes (I had not understood why that feature of El Capitan was called "the Nose" until I was staring up its right nostril!). This is not just beautiful mountains, high adrenaline and ripped abs (although there are no shortage of these). The relationship between two fiercely independent and competitive brothers, sometimes striving for mutual goals, sometimes conflicted, always connected fraternally, but not always happily, make an absorbing psychological story within a story of the obsessive climbing fraternity. The "minor" characters Dean S. Potter, Chongo, and several who are given sobriquets like "old school American climbers" or no name at all (I recognized the one they called 'Andy' was Andy Perkins) provide some amazing footage, and are complex and interesting people as well, but the film (wisely, I think) keeps its focus tightly on the Huber brothers and their attempt to break the speed climbing record for the Nose.