What if He Falls? The Terrifying Reality Behind Filming “Free Solo” | Op-Docs
18,026,787
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.
Subscribe: bit.ly/U8Ys7n
More from The New York Times Video: nytimes.com/video
----------
Whether it's reporting on conflicts abroad and political divisions at home, or covering the latest style trends and scientific developments, New York Times video journalists provide a revealing and unforgettable view of the world. It's all the news that's fit to watch.
All Comments (21)
-
He comes from a very humble background, his mom being a teacher and his dad a mountain goat..
-
Alex asking the guy with all the safety equipment, "are you ok?" is the second biggest unintentional flex in the history of this planet.
-
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.
-
"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
-
If I would climb that wall I would probably survive, too. I would fall within the first meters.
-
“Sorry, forgot to press record”
-
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...?
-
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!
-
3 years of hard training and I MIGHT be able to watch Free Solo.
-
This isn't just the most impressive athletic feat ever; it's the most impressive mental feat I've ever seen. His mind is more solid than the cliff he climbed.
-
He is a LEGEND AND probably the first and last guy to ever climb this mountain without any safety .
-
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.
-
DO NOT start a thumb war with that man.
-
I get shaky just climbing a ladder.
-
I really appreciated that the film grappled with the ethical issues surrounding such a climb. . . from many different angles. Great work!
-
Alex is such an amazing human. Peak physical and mental form to be able to do that. So inspiring.
-
This is the type of route parents claim they used to go to school back in their days
-
Watching this, even knowing he survives, makes my hands sweat.
-
It's been almost a decade and I have seen this documentary several times, but I ALWAYS get terrified that Alex will fall, but I cannot look away. Alex must have balls of titanium !!
-
I've watched Free Solo at least 3 times and find myself holding my breath at several sections of the climb. I just did that again watching this video. Simply an amazing feat.
