North Face (2008)

A secretary at a Berlin newspaper in 1936 gets to write about two alpinists as she knows them well. She later gets to report on/photograph her friends' and other alpinists' climb of the dangerous Swiss Eiger north face.

Director:

Philipp Stölzl

Writers:

Chris Martin Silber (as Christoph Silber), Philipp Stölzl

Stars:

Benno Fürmann, Florian Lukas, Johanna Wokalek

4 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Benno Fürmann	...	Toni Kurz
Johanna Wokalek	...	Luise Fellner
Florian Lukas	...	Andi Hinterstoisser
Simon Schwarz	...	Willy Angerer
Georg Friedrich	...	Edi Rainer
Ulrich Tukur	...	Henry Arau
Erwin Steinhauer	...	Emil Landauer
Branko Samarovski	...	Albert von Allmen
Petra Morzé	...	Elisabeth Landauer
Hanspeter Müller	...	Hans Schlunegger (as Hanspeter Müller-Drossart)
Peter Zumstein	...	Adolf Rubi
Martin Schick	...	Christian Rubi
Erni Mangold	...	Grossmutter Kurz
Johannes Thanheiser	...	Grossvater Kurz
Arnd Schimkat	...	Hotelbesitzer

Storyline

Based on a true story, North Face is a survival drama film about a competition to climb the most dangerous rock face in the Alps. Set in 1936, as Nazi propaganda urges the nation's Alpinists to conquer the unclimbed north face of the Swiss massif - the Eiger - two reluctant German climbers begin their daring ascent.

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Plot Keywords:

switzerland | mountain climbing | love interest | nazi germany | 1930s | 

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Genres:

Adventure | Biography | Drama | History | Sport

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

As Luise Fellner and her boss, Herr Arau, arrive at the Eiger, the local guides are standing in front of the hotel advertising their services to the tourists. One of the guides notices a pair of climbers in the crowd. "Look who's coming," he says, "Bartolo Sandri and Mario Menti." A fellow guide mutters: "Another couple of fools. Come in a train and leave in a coffin." These two Italian climbers fell to their deaths from the north face June 21, 1938.

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Goofs

Despite what the night time shots showed over the Eiger, there was no full moon on or near the 18th July 1936. There was, however, a blue moon that month: the moon was full on both the 1st and the 31st July of that year.

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Quotes

[first lines]
[in German, quoting English subtitles]
Luise Fellner: [voiceover] When you're at the bottom - Toni once told me - at the foot of the wall, and you look up, you ask yourself: How can anyone climb that? Why would anyone even want to? But hours later when you're at the top looking down, you've forgotten everything. Except the one person you promised you would come back to.

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Soundtracks

Immer ran
Written and Composed by Ulrich Tukur
Performed by Ulrich Tukur

User Reviews

Best climbing movie ever

I have seen a lot of climbing movies and this one tops them all. The climbing scenes are remarkable- it will keep you on the edge of your seat! To see these guys climbing thousands of feet up on this face with the old equipment is incredible, and you feel like you are actually there with the amazing cinematography. It left me asking, "how in the world did they film that?!" It is an astonishing true story. If you don't know about it, do yourself a favor and watch the movie before reading about it. Why don't they make more movies like this?? Hollywood needs to learn a lesson…tell a true story, be faithful to it, and don't rely on CGI and special effects.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [Japan]

Country:

Germany Austria Switzerland

Language:

German Swiss German French Italian

Release Date:

23 October 2008 (Germany)

Also Known As:

North Face

Filming Locations:

Austria

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$23,050, 31 January 2010

Gross USA:

$711,421

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$6,815,056

Company Credits

Production Co:

Dor Film-West Produktionsgesellschaft, Majestic Filmproduktion, Lunaris Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

126 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1