Life on Hold

Two years in the making, the british bouldering film Life on Hold, from Outcrop Films (Nick Brown and Richard Sharpe) is finally available. Obviously I downloaded it straight away. When I went to the shop I got a pleasant surprise. The 720p download available for only £10, which is a bargain price, cheaper than almost any comparable climbing film I can think of.

The film itself starts with a beautifully shot and edited sequence of Ned Feehally on Careless Torque; the tone of which is judged perfectly, with a quiet background of strings and piano accompanying the action. The film then embarks on a tour of Yorkshire, the Peak and Northumberland. For the most part, Ned, Dan Varian and Mickey Page are the stars, but there are cameo appearances from a whole host of world-class boulderers, and Dave Mason.

The filming is beautifully done. Some shots are breathtaking, and Outcrop's now-hallmark time lapses are interspersed between the climbing sequences. This is actually done to great effect, and really fits well in a movie about UK bouldering, where the changeable weather and frustrating conditions are such a big part of any climber's life.

The structure of the film itself is very much "all thriller, no filler"; there's very few interviews and almost no exposition. Generally, this works well, letting the problems be the stars and allowing the climber's personalities to reveal themselves through the action. It's also a good call since some of the people in the film (no names, Ned) are best described as reluctant interviewees. At times, however, it works to the film's detriment. In particular, the film follows a non-linear narrative, cutting away from attempts on, and returning to ascents of, key problems. Without any narration to put this in context it's a little jarring, and hard to follow. Where the narrative works best is where interview audio is overlaid over climbing action - for example Ned expounding his highball philosophy whilst soloing The Pride in the Churnet.

In fact, it's the highballing that is the real draw of this film. Dan and Ned have gained a reputation for bringing a new approach to grit climbing, with increasing higher and higher routes falling to a ground up, above pads approach. Most of the time this is a natural application of modern technology, whilst at times it seems to descend into madness, with crazily high and committing routes being highballed above tiny pieces of foam. Sometimes the film does a great job of capturing the gripping nature of this style; watching Ryan Pasquill and Dan on the Return of the Jedi the tension mounts slowly until Ryan takes a nasty looking fall onto distant pads stacked over jumbled boulders. Watching Ned on the Promise is another occasion. His pads seem impossibly distant and, for once, Ned actually looks scared. Then he falls off and the lob is almost anti-climactic. In fact, this is the biggest problem with the highballs in the film; sometimes the falls look suprisingly tame!

In summary, I really loved this film. It is gorgeous, well-paced and features some truly inspiring ascents of world-class problems. Recommendation: download ASAP.