Scream of Stone

Last updated
Scream of Stone
Scream of Stone FilmPoster.jpeg
Directed by Werner Herzog
Written by
Produced by
Starring
Cinematography Rainer Klausmann
Edited by Suzanne Baron
Release date
  • 1991 (1991)
Running time
105 minutes
Countries
  • Germany
  • France
  • Canada
LanguageEnglish

Scream of Stone (German : Cerro Torre: Schrei aus Stein) is a 1991 film directed by Werner Herzog about a climbing expedition on Cerro Torre. The film was shot on location at Cerro Torre, with several scenes filmed close to the summit.

Contents

Plot

Two champion climbers, young Martin and experienced Roger, compete to be the first to conquer a daunting snow-covered peak. [1] [2]

Production

The film is based on the history of the supposed first conquest of the summit of Cerro Torre in 1959, by the Italian climber Cesare Maestri and his partner, the Austrian Toni Egger, who died during the descent. Cerro Torre is known as one of the most difficult climbs in the world due to difficult weather conditions and lack of a clear ascent route. Maestri's claim was later challenged as he failed to give substantial proofs on reaching the summit. [3]

The script was written principally by longtime Herzog production manager Walter Saxer, based on an idea from mountaineer Reinhold Messner, whom Herzog had worked with in his documentary The Dark Glow of the Mountains . Herzog, usually an author of screenplays to his films, believed that the script was weak, especially the dialogue, and even commented that he didn't consider Scream of Stone to be his film. Still, he praised some mountain climbing sequences of the film as 'the most impressive thing you can see on screen, much more <...> than anything in a Hollywood blockbuster', because Stefan Glowacz climbed the mountain in single takes without safety lines. [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Werner Herzog</span> German director, producer, screenwriter (born 1942)

Werner Herzog is a German filmmaker, actor, opera director, and author. Regarded as a pioneer of New German Cinema, his films often feature ambitious protagonists with impossible dreams, people with unusual talents in obscure fields, or individuals in conflict with nature. His style involves avoiding storyboards, emphasizing improvisation, and placing his cast and crew into real situations mirroring those in the film they are working on.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Annapurna</span> Eight-thousander and 10th-highest mountain on Earth, located in Nepal

Annapurna is a mountain situated in the Annapurna mountain range of Gandaki Province, north-central Nepal. It is the 10th highest mountain in the world at 8,091 metres (26,545 ft) above sea level and is well known for the difficulty and danger involved in its ascent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reinhold Messner</span> Italian mountaineer, adventurer and explorer (born 1944)

Reinhold Andreas Messner is an Italian climber, explorer, and author from the German-speaking province of South Tyrol. He made the first solo ascent of Mount Everest and, along with Peter Habeler, the first ascent of Everest without supplemental oxygen. He was the first person to climb all 14 eight-thousanders, doing so without supplementary oxygen. Messner was the first to cross Antarctica and Greenland with neither snowmobiles nor dog sleds and also crossed the Gobi Desert alone. He is widely considered to be the greatest mountaineer of all time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">First ascent</span> Mountaineering and climbing term

In mountaineering and climbing, a first ascent, is the first successful documented climb to the top of a mountain or the top of a particular climbing route. Early 20th-century mountaineers and climbers focused on reaching the tops of iconic mountains and climbing routes by whatever means possible, often using considerable amounts of aid climbing, and/or with large expedition style support teams that laid "siege" to the climb.

<i>Lessons of Darkness</i> 1992 German film

Lessons of Darkness is a 1992 documentary film directed by Werner Herzog. The film is an exploration of the ravaged oil fields of post-Gulf War Kuwait, portrayed in a manner that accentuates the catastrophic and surreal nature of the landscape. An effective companion to Herzog's earlier film Fata Morgana, the film again perceives the desert as a landscape with its voice.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maurice Herzog</span> French mountaineer and politician

Maurice André Raymond Herzog was a French mountaineer and administrator who was born in Lyon, France. He led the 1950 French Annapurna expedition that first climbed a peak over 8000m, Annapurna, in 1950, and reached the summit with Louis Lachenal. Upon his return, he wrote a best-selling book about the expedition, Annapurna.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lionel Terray</span> French climber and mountaineer

Lionel Terray was a French climber who made many first ascents, including on the 1955 French Makalu expedition in the Himalaya and Cerro Fitz Roy in the Patagonian Andes.

<i>Stroszek</i> 1977 film by Werner Herzog

Stroszek is a 1977 West German tragicomedy film directed by Werner Herzog and starring Bruno S., Eva Mattes, and Clemens Scheitz. Written specifically for Bruno S., the film was shot in Plainfield, Wisconsin, and North Carolina. Most of the lead roles are played by inexperienced actors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cerro Torre</span> Mountain in Southern Patagonia in South America

Cerro Torre is one of the mountains of the Southern Patagonian Ice Field in South America. It is located in Argentina and Chile, west of Fitz Roy. The peak is the highest of a four mountain chain: the other peaks are Torre Egger, Punta Herron, and Cerro Standhardt. The top of the mountain often has a mushroom of rime ice, formed by the constant strong winds, increasing the difficulty of reaching the actual summit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walter Bonatti</span> Italian mountaineer and alpinist

Walter Bonatti was an Italian mountaineer, alpinist, explorer and journalist. He was noted for many climbing achievements, including a solo climb of a new alpine climbing route on the south-west pillar of the Aiguille du Dru in August 1955, the first ascent of Gasherbrum IV in 1958, and, in 1965, the first solo climb in winter of the North face of the Matterhorn on the mountain's centenary year of its first ascent. Immediately after his solo climb on the Matterhorn, Bonatti announced his retirement from professional climbing at the age of 35, and after 17 years of climbing activity. He authored many mountaineering books and spent the remainder of his career travelling off the beaten track as a reporter for the Italian magazine Epoca. He died on 13 September 2011 of pancreatic cancer in Rome aged 81, and was survived by his life partner, the actress Rossana Podestà.

Bells from the Deep: Faith and Superstition in Russia is a 1993 documentary film written and directed by Werner Herzog, produced by Werner Herzog Filmproduktion.

<i>How Much Wood Would a Woodchuck Chuck</i> (film) 1976 Documentary film directed by Werner Herzog

How Much Wood Would a Woodchuck Chuck is a 1976 documentary film by German director Werner Herzog, produced by Werner Herzog Filmproduktion. It is a 44-minute film documenting the World Livestock Auctioneer Championship held in New Holland, Pennsylvania. The film also contains a section about the Amish and shows Amish speaking Pennsylvania German.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Huayna Picchu</span> Archaeological site in Peru

Huayna Picchu, Quechua: Wayna Pikchu, is a mountain in Peru around which the Urubamba River bends. It is located in the Cusco Region, Urubamba Province, Machupicchu District. It rises over Machu Picchu, the so-called Lost City of the Incas. The Incas built a trail up the side of the Huayna Picchu and constructed temples and terraces at its top. The peak of Huayna Picchu is 2,693 metres (8,835 ft) above sea level, or about 260 metres (850 ft) higher than Machu Picchu.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stefan Glowacz</span> German rock climber and mountaineer

Stefan Glowacz is a German professional rock climber and adventurer. He started climbing at the age of 12 and advanced to one of the world's strongest competition climbers and sport climber a few years later. Since 1993 he has been devoted to natural challenges such as expeditions to remote places in Canada, Patagonia and Antarctica.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cesare Maestri</span> Italian mountain climber (1929–2021)

Cesare Maestri was an Italian mountaineer and writer.

<i>Ballad of the Little Soldier</i> 1984 West Germany film

Ballad of the Little Soldier is a 1984 documentary film directed by Werner Herzog and Denis Reichle about child soldiers in Nicaragua. The film focuses on a group of Miskito Indians who used children soldiers in their resistance against the Sandinistas.

Rolando Garibotti is an Argentinian and American professional climber, writer, and mountain guide. He is from Bariloche, Argentina. These days he splits his time between the town of El Chaltén, Argentina, and the Dolomites in Italy.

James "Jim" Donini is an American rock climber and alpinist, noted for a long history of cutting-edge climbs in Alaska and Patagonia. He was president of the American Alpine Club from 2006 to 2009, and a 1999 recipient of the AAC's Robert and Miriam Underhill Award.

John Bragg is an American rock climber and alpinist, noted for first ascents of difficult rock climbs in the Shawangunks and Colorado, and taking high-grade rock skills to Patagonia, to make the first ascent of Torre Egger in 1976 with Jim Donini and Jay Wilson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Lama</span> Austrian rock climber and mountaineer (1990–2019)

David Lama was an Austrian rock climber and alpinist. He won the European Championship in competition bouldering in 2007 and the European Championship in competition lead climbing in 2006. He is known for his first free ascent of the Compressor Route on Cerro Torre. In 2018, in a solo expedition, he was the first to reach the summit of Lunag Ri in the Himalayas. In 2019, he was posthumously honoured with a Piolet d'Or for this first ascent.

References

  1. "Scream of Stone". Variety. 1990-12-31. Retrieved 2024-05-01.
  2. Hegnsvad 2021.
  3. Prager 1991.
  4. Cronin 2014.

Sources