Bavaria Film

Four old friends agree to go on a dangerous skitour. It soon becomes clear that they do not know each other as well as they thought and that each has his own private motives for going on the trip. Having as their guide the disturbingly beautiful and distant Monika, the group set to off on their dangerous journey. Almost immediately the cracks appear in the facade of their friendship. Before long, events take a more horrifying turn…

In this short and curious documentary, the filmmaker and mountaineer Lothar Brandler explains the meaning of the 'passion for the Matterhorn' which he calls the 'peak of desire'. Hundreds of people go to the top, some without necessary style or the preparation. A few ones are interviewed on their return to the shelter to know the reasons of their clim. The film is also an occasion to illustrate the difficulties of the ascent and to talk about some of the best guides of the past.

Three famous climbers, the Frenchman Pierre Mazeaud, the German Winfried Ender and the Italian Roberto Sorgato, meet up at the bottom of the Tre Cime di Lavaredo and decide to join together in a single roped party, climbing the 'Direttissima' on the north face of the Cima Grande di Lavaredo. The beautiful film illustrates with precise sequences the climb of the route, that was opened in 1958 by the filmmaker himself, Lother Brandler. The film wants to highlight the idea of frienship, cooperation, fraternity and peace showing three men from historically-confronted nationalities roped and working together as a single team. The film won the Grand Prix at the Trento Film Festival in 1964.

The mountain guide Jakob is a controversial figure. His supposed father dies and leaves behind a great heritage to the people. In the town they consider Jakob a bastard, because his parents were not married, which means that without a testament, the lands in which he lives do not belong to him. But the testament indicates that the inheritance corresponds him under a single condition, he must be the first person to climb the east face of Monte Verità. There is a French version of the film, titled 'Un de la montagne', shot the year after with the same script but with different actors and by a different director.