North Face (Nordwand) (2010)
75%RT Audience Score: 60%
Awards & Nominations: 4 wins & 7 nominations
A tense and gripping spectacular piece of snow-bound historical German film-making
If you’re looking for a movie that will make you feel like you’re dangling off the side of a mountain, North Face is the one for you. The stunning cinematography will have you holding your breath as the climbers scale the daunting heights of the Eiger. And if you’re not afraid of heights, the film will make you afraid of the cold. It’s a gripping, white-knuckle ride that will leave you feeling like you’ve just summited a mountain yourself. Just don’t forget your parka.
Production Company(ies)
Distributor
Music Box Films
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
Kleine Scheidegg, Kanton Bern, Switzerland
MPAA / Certificate
Not Rated
Year of Release
2008
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby Digital
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Aspect ratio:2.35 : 1
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Runtime:2h 6m
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Language(s):German, Swiss, German, French, Italian
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Jan 29, 2010 Limited
Release Date (Streaming): May 11, 2010
Genre(s)
Adventure/Romance
Keyword(s)
Worldwide gross: $6,815,056
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $9,387,479
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,980
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 1,023,716
US/Canada gross: $711,421
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $979,955
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,193
US/Canada opening weekend: $23,050
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $31,750
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,353
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): NA
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): NA
Production budget ranking: NA
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA
Jaygann Ayeh – Marland
Tilda Swinton – Rosalind
Richard Ayoade – Patrick
Ariane Labed – Garance
James Spencer Ashworth – William
Director(s)
Philipp Stölzl
Writer(s)
Christoph Silber, Rupert Henning, Philipp Stölzl, Johannes Naber
Producer(s)
Danny Krausz, Boris Schönfelder, Rudolf Santschi, Benjamin Herrmann
Film Festivals
Berlin
Awards & Nominations
4 wins & 7 nominations
Academy Awards
All Critics (58) | Top Critics (26) | Fresh (49) | Rotten (9)
The mountaineers climb for reasons that have little to do with nationalism – reasons the film clumsily attempts to articulate in words. It’s far more successful conveying those inspirations with stunning images of them scaling daunting heights.
July 4, 2010 | Rating: 7.1/10
Ian Buckwalter
NPR
TOP CRITIC
It’s Kolja Brandt’s gloriously edge-of-the-seat/seat-of-the-pants cinematography (much of the film was shot on location) that really packs a natural wallop.
April 30, 2010 | Rating: 3/5
Marc Savlov
Austin Chronicle
TOP CRITIC
A straightforward, wickedly suspenseful Man vs. Nature saga of the type that rarely gets made any more.
April 16, 2010 | Rating: 3.5/4
Amy Biancolli
Houston Chronicle
TOP CRITIC
Philipp Stolzl worked in the same dangerous conditions as the original climbers, and we can feel the chill and peril in our bones. It’s a shame, then, that the screenwriter, unlike the camera crew and the characters, was afflicted with such timidity.
March 25, 2010 | Rating: 2.5/4
Joe Williams
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
TOP CRITIC
North Face” is something of an old-fashioned epic shot with modern wisdom and technique, a man vs. nature flick that also weighs the importance of the individual vs. the social while exposing the mean cost of vicarious thrills.
March 12, 2010 | Rating: B
Tom Long
Detroit News
TOP CRITIC
The word “gripping” doesn’t do it justice.
February 26, 2010 | Rating: 3/4
Michael O’Sullivan
Washington Post
TOP CRITIC
The most effective climbing thriller since Touching the Void.
August 5, 2020 | Rating: 3.5/5
David Harris
Spectrum Culture
This is gripping stuff, a tautly directed, white knuckle suspense yarn with a keen sense of time and place.
August 5, 2019 | Rating: 3/4
Mattie Lucas
From the Front Row
North Face is at once exciting and horrifying.
March 2, 2019
Steve Erickson
Nashville Scene
This is a solid, well-crafted, emotional film, which does not need the hook of being based on a true story to be a fantastic one.
August 9, 2018
Sarah Manvel
Critic’s Notebook
Epic, intimate and gripping.
January 20, 2013 | Rating: 3.5/4
Roger Moore
Movie Nation
Harrowing German drama is a real cliffhanger.
December 29, 2010 | Rating: 4.5
Don Groves
sbs.com.au…
Plot
German and Austrian mountain climbers attempt to scale the Eiger in 1936, facing extreme danger and perilous conditions in this tense and gripping adventure film.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
NA
Philipp-Stölzl.jpg
