Happy Monday! Take a chance this week. There’s no time like the present.
Today’s movie is Free Solo (2018)—streaming on Hulu. This high-altitude action documentary, directed by spouses Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin, won the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature and also has the distinction of giving me onset acrophobia.
Here’s what it’s about: The GIF of Alex Honnold climbing an impossibly high mountain without ropes or safety gear is very real. And he’s not done yet. Free Solo follows Alex’s attempt to climb Yosemite’s fearsome 3,000 foot El Capitan rock face. [Trailer // 100 mins]
Why you should watch it: Honnold doesn’t feel fear the way you or I do. He’s not afraid of death. He’s afraid of the miscalculations he could make where the result is death. That obsession and his inability to process emotion make Free Solo a riveting character study. We get to know Alex and why he’s comfortable taking the risk of dying doing what he loves over a girl that he may or may not love—his feelings toward his girlfriend are an enigma throughout the film.
Does he love her? Does he even understand love? Why does she stay in a relationship where she isn’t a factor in decisions that involve whether he lives or dies? That is the driving conflict behind Free Solo even more than whether or not he’ll conquer El Capitan. Still, what you come to Free Solo for is the rock climbing. And rock climbing there is. To call it breathtaking would be an understatement. [Full review]
📺 Buy or Rent: Prime Video | iTunes | YouTube
Pair it with 🍷
Apollo 11: This documentary stitches together never before seen — and almost unbelievable — archival footage from the first mission to put a man on the moon. [Where to watch]
Hamil-tons of charisma
Today’s bonus recommendation is Hamilton (2020)—streaming on Disney+. Lin-Manuel Miranda’s hip hop musical about America’s past through the lens of America’s present is one of the defining pieces of pop culture in contemporary times. Its impact as a musical, at this point, surpasses any of its predecessors. It’s only fitting that it’s the first Broadway musical to be captured on film at this scale.
Here’s what it’s about: Hamilton tells the story of America’s fight for independence and first few years as a young nation by following founding father Alexander Hamilton (Lin-Manuel Miranda). Filled with rap, R&B, hip hop, and pop numbers, it puts a distinctly modern lens on our past and how it relates to our present. [Trailer // 160 mins]
Why you should watch it: Other musicals have been filmed live on stage and released theatrically. Rarely, though, do they garner this kind of collective pause in the cultural landscape. However, the main reason for their rareness is the sheer difficulty of translating live performances to the screen. And while the Hamilton source material is already perfection, Thomas Kail, the original Broadway director who also directed the film, finds a way to recreate the feeling and energy of a live performance to the screen.
Small decisions like the spare use of close-ups and strong respect of the 180-degree camera rule (the camera is rarely on the stage) keep your perspective rooted with the actual audience. And there’s something authentic about the three performances that the film edited together. By design, Hamilton is a musical where each performer on stage is unique in their movements. It’s those slight imperfections from each other that make the film feel genuine. Not like they were striving for perfection but authenticity.
📺 Hamilton is streaming exclusively on Disney+
Pair it with 🍷
Stop Making Sense: Over four nights at the Pantages Theater in 1983 Jonathan Demme captured the Talking Heads’ performance during their tour to promote the album Speaking in Tongues. [Where to watch]
Have a great week!
See you Thursday —
Karl (@karl_delo)