North Face

It was “the last great problem of the Alps,” and by scaling the North Face of the Eiger on the eve of the 1936 Berlin Olympics, the Nazi propaganda machine hoped to demonstrate to the world the peerless prowess of the alleged master race. Philipp Stölzl’s gripping true-life drama will rivet you to the side of the mountain as the cautious Toni Kurz (Benno Fürmann, of Joyeux Noël) and the enthusiastic Andreas Hinterstoisser (Florian Lukas, Goodbye, Lenin!) attempt to conquer a nearly vertical slab of ice and rock. This is, for better or for worse, totally old-fashioned moviemaking, featuring heroes of differing temperaments, a mousy/spunky girl from their past, a moustache-twirling opportunist (Ulrich Tukur from Germany’s recent Oscar nominee The White Ribbon) and enough foreshadowing to make your high school English teacher weep with joy. All clichés are forgiven, however, during the tense climbing scenes, stunningly shot by Kolja Brandt.