Touching the Void is a harrowing cinematic experience that will undoubtedly be high on my list of the year's best films - extraordinary piece of work.

Part documentary and part re-creation, Touching the Void depicts the true story of mountain climbers Joe Simpson and Simon Yates whom in 1985 successfully ascended the peak of Siula Grande in the Peruvian Andes. It was during their descent that things went awry and the story of how they managed to survive one of the most extraordinary ordeals imaginable makes for one hell of a riveting film experience.

The story is narrated by Joe and Simon themselves. As they tell their incredible tale of self preservation, director Kevin Macdonald stunningly recreates the ordeal with actors Nicholas Aaron, Richard Hawking and an incredibly authentic snow capped Siula Grande so convincingly that I actually felt the pain and isolation of these seemingly doomed mountain climbers.

The fact that they were alive and narrating it themselves, was absolutely the only reason to believe that anyone could have possibly survived this unimaginable nightmare. From one moment to the next, I had no idea how Simpson and Yates could possibly extricate themselves from each life-threatening fix they'd encounter trying to get down from this cold mountain. To hear their first-hand account was enough to freeze the blood dead in your veins. This true story involving another Miracle on Ice is a tale of victory against odds a million times more unlikely.

One of the things I admired most about Touching the Void was director Kevin Macdonald's choice to tell the story in more of a documentary fashion. If a Tom Cruise or a Russell Crowe would have been cast as one of these men, it would have been more of a distraction. It would have taken away from the true horror and realism of the subject matter. This isn't a stab against these actors mind you; but this story is true and to put a Hollywood face on these characters would have perhaps suggested an element of fiction and it's the fact that there's "nothing" fictional about this nightmare that gives the film it's sheer power. As it stands, Touching the Void is incredibly intense. And how Macdonald staged some of this action, is beyond me. One sequence in particular features one of the mountain climbers falling to what was certain to be his death, through a sheet of ice. We see him crash through from above, then get a horrific glimpse from beneath. Some of this stuff took my breath away.

This is a movie about the incredible resiliency of the human spirit and the often astonishing feats that are possible when faced with seemingly insurmountable circumstances. It's also about tough choices made when self preservation becomes the strongest of all human instincts. These men both had to make decisions that ultimately proved to be fortuitous - but at the time were excruciating to the utmost. The events depicted in this film are so difficult to believe that were they fictitious, someone reading the script would have rolled their eyes.

Watching Simpson and Yates discuss what happened was every bit as compelling as the re-creation of it, and the moments in which they get choked up while revealing their desperation and hopelessness during those seven terror-filled days is something I'll never forget - even though I don't think I could ever truly know what these men felt.

I wouldn't call Simpson and Yates heroes - nor do they consider themselves such. After all, they chose to climb Siula Grande, and they don't make any excuses for the decisions they made. But they have vociferously defended each other from the criticisms leveled at one of these men due to a decision he had to make. These criticisms have come from other climbers and under the circumstances I find them as absurd as Simpson and Yates do themselves.

This incredible story, as you may know is also available in a book by the same title. But I'd recommend the film, no matter what your preference - there are things in this story that can't quite be captured with your imagination as your only tool. Touching the Void is one of the most intense films I've seen in a long time. It was a scary, haunting look at survival in the darkest of circumstances, and an absolutely breathtaking film experience. What they went through and eventually endured is as mind-boggling as anything you could imagine. My hope is they'll eventually convert it to IMAX format.