TOUCHING THE VOID — *** 1/2 — Docudrama re-creating the 1985 ascent of Siula Grande; featuring interviews with Joe Simpson and Simon Yates; not rated, probable R (profanity, vulgarity, violence, brief drugs).

If "Touching the Void" had been made as a straightforward, narrative feature film, it probably would have come off as contrived and a bit ludicrous — even if it were completely faithful to the true story.

That's because this mountain-climbing survival tale is so incredible that, even hearing it told by those who were there, it seems unbelievable.

So credit filmmaker Kevin Macdonald, who chose to tell it in the only way possible — as a "docudrama," which blends dramatic re-creations and interviews with the participants. That was done out of necessity — since, obviously, there was no footage of the real events — and it's surprisingly effective.

Actually, the film is much more tense and thrilling than most Hollywood thrillers. And the fact that it's based on real life only heightens that tension.

"Touching the Void" is based on the book of the same name, about English mountain climber Joe Simpson's recollections of the perilous ascent — and even more treacherous descent — he and climbing partner Simon Yates made in 1985 on the west face of Siula Grande, an Andes peak.

The two men ascended sheer faces of ice and snow just to get up the mountain's approximately 21,000 feet. And once they got to the top, they thought the worst was behind them. However, that theory changed in a hurry — when Simpson shattered his leg, forcing Yates to do the majority of the climbing-down work.

Yates planned to lower Simpson down the mountain, 300 feet at a time, but thanks to a serious miscalculation, Simpson was left dangling over a cliff and Yates was forced to cut his partner's rope so at least one of them would survive.

Not to give too much away, but, obviously, Simpson survived (he landed in a crevasse and . . . well, you'll have to find out the rest for yourselves).

Documentarian Macdonald smartly allows Simpson and Yates to tell their sides of the tale (of the two, the latter climber still seems haunted by what happened).

They're played in the re-creations by Brendan Mackey and Nicholas Aaron, respectively. But aside from the real-life participants, the real star here is the scenery, captured in all its breathtaking glory by cinematographers Mike Eley, Keith Partridge and their crews.

"Touching the Void" is not rated but would probably receive an R for occasional use of strong sexual profanity and crude slang terms, mountain-climbing violence and scenes of peril, and some brief drug content (use of painkillers). Running time: 106 minutes.

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E-mail: jeff@desnews.com