Touching the Void

 Touching the Void – 2003 – Kevin Macdonald

A while ago, I watched the movie Touching the Void. It is a 2003 British film based on real events. It is adapted from the bestselling book Touching the Void, written by climber Joe Simpson, in which he recounts events that took place in Peru in 1985 involving two British mountaineers (Joe Simpson and Simon Yates). For the most part, it is boring, except around the middle of the movie when he falls and survives, which is where it gets interesting. Still, it is worth watching. For those studying criminal law, it might be particularly interesting because it is a vivid example of a case often brought up regarding justifying necessity and exculpating necessity. Usually, they cite the example of two shipwreck survivors where one kills the other to keep the floating wood that will save his life. In this movie, two climbers are roped together on the verge of falling off a cliff; one of them cuts the rope of the other—who falls into the abyss—to save himself from falling along with him. The one who cut the rope ultimately survives, unaware that the one who fell into the abyss survived as well.

The movie won the Alexander Korda Award for Best British Film at the 2004 BAFTA Awards and was featured at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival, according to Wikipedia and FilmAffinity. I don’t have much more to say about this movie; synopses, reviews, and critiques can easily be found online.
Something caught my attention about the film, which is the main reason for this blog post. At one point, the climber looks at the time, and when they show the watch, I paused to look at it. At first, I thought it was identical to one I had owned a while ago, but when I looked closer, it wasn't the exact same one; the climber's watch appeared to be an older model. It makes sense, considering the events took place in 1985. I wonder whether they managed to find and film with the actual model the real climber used, or if they used a model close to the original.

Comparing it to Casio’s collection, the climber’s model looks similar to the F-91W-1YEF. It might not be the absolute original, as Casio had started making digital watches less than 10 years prior, and those earlier models were more rudimentary. However, it's hard to tell for sure because Casio had several similar models around that period. Among its collection, Casio offers watches with specialized features for various activities (fishing, trekking, diving, etc.), as well as mountaineering, but I’m not sure if these specialized models were created after the events of the movie took place.

This isn't meant to promote the brand, but it happened to be the one shown in the film. Perhaps the real mountaineers used a different brand or model altogether, and the actor or director just chose that specific Casio watch. Or maybe the watch is mentioned in the book and that’s why they used it—I don't know and haven't researched it. I just stopped to write this comment because of a two-second shot in a movie over an hour and a half long.

Still, being based on a true story, some directors (or at least there should be, and I know there are) are meticulous—very meticulous—and it's possible some take detail to the extreme. It might seem like something that goes unnoticed, but sometimes small things matter, and for many activities, a watch is important.