North Face

Icy period piece loosely based on the 1936 attempt to climb the north face of Switzerland's Eiger Mountain. Hoping to gain publicity before the Olympic games, the Third Reich recruits small-town Bavarian mountaineers Toni (Furmann) and Andi (Lukas) to climb the last unconquered peak of the Alps. Their struggles and setbacks are contrasted with the luxury and ease of the propaganda brigade sent to cover the ascent, which includes Toni's former girlfriend Luise (Wokalek). Director Stolzl plays rather fast-and-loose with the facts to heighten the tension and tie his story in with the Nazi ideology that's pervading Germany at the time. The action and drama are riveting when focused on the men on the mountain, however. German with subtitles.