Still not even 30 years old, Czech Adam Ondra is considered one of the greatest climbers who ever lived. In their feature doc world-premiering in VdR Grand Angle, fellow countrymen Jan Šimánek & Petr Záruba follow him over the course of three years, both in his private life and up in the mountains, as he prepares for the 2020 Olympics. The pair discuss their film with Business Doc Europe.
Adam Ondra is quite some specimen, a man of astonishing strength and agility, whose incredibly muscular frame defies gravity as he scales precipitous cliff faces with artistry and grace, at times howling like a beast at the effort. He is also shy and humble and gestures with a Zen-like elegance.
That said, public knowledge of climbing isn’t so intense and while he is admired greatly by the likes of Alex Honnold, the star of the 2019 Oscar-winning climbing doc Free Solo, his wider profile isn’t great, until, that is, he is selected to represent the Czech Republic in the 2020 Olympics, held in Tokyo in 2021, at which point a whole nation tune in to his exploits (no spoilers).
In Jan Šimánek & Petr Záruba’s documentary, we follow Ondra’s journey to the Games over three hysically gruelling years that are just as intense from a personal perspective, as the filmmakers dig deep into his relationship with Iva, the love of his life, also a top climber – but one who has sacrificed much for his success.
“The trust of Adam that we won during the development of the film enabled us to capture [him] on a personal level that often remains hidden behind the media coverage,” the filmmakers say in their notes. “[We wanted] to show the contrasting image of the celebrity and the ordinary hard work of an introverted loner. We were also impressed by Adam’s close bond with his family and especially his wife Iva who became a key protagonist of the film.”
In interview, they go further, describing Iva as a “miracle,” somebody who was invaluable in their telling of this intensely personal and balanced story.
Watching Ondra climb in the film is a fascinating experience as he stretches for grips and toeholds on sheer rock faces hundreds of feet up, followed all the way by the filmmakers, also fellow climbers. The experience is also highly cinematic. Yes we see him at times as a speck against a vast mountain, but at other times we marvel at the minutae and precision of his movements up close.
“It worked better at these times,” opines Záruba of these awe-inspiring moments when Ondra explores the limits of his physical capabilities. “When you are close, there’s some kind of mystery, but when we stepped back, it was just observation.”
The climber tells how he mostly cares “about the aesthetics of movement in climbing…the beauty of the movement [when] the soul leaves the body,” and therefore finds competition almost distasteful as he misses “the creativity and the feeling of adventure.”
Ondra himself seems a very happy, well-balanced individual who can take disappointment in his stride, always growing from the experience. Which is why the emotional heartbeat of the film is found in girlfriend Iva who is there for Ondra at all times, but who tearfully concedes at one point, “it is not possible to have two ambitious people in a couple…I was the one who backed off so we could be together.”
Despite the filmmakers sharing Ondra’s love for climbing, access to their subject wasn’t as easy as it might have been. He trains all the time, and when he is not training he wants to spend as much time in the mountains as possible. And not surprisingly, Šimánek and Záruba weren’t the only filmmakers keen on following him. To compound matters, he has, in addition, his own YouTube channel which is serviced by a professional team of filmmakers and social media personnel.
But the Czech filmmakers’ persistence paid off, explaining their irritation at “the ever repeating flattened media coverage of Adam, or climbers in general. We wanted to replace these marketing clichés with a concentrated personal testimony about a person whose endless endeavour for perfection can inspire a broader audience.”
And what does Ondra think of their very personal and artistic film? “After it ended, they posted that that like it very much. He said that it’s the first movie version where you can see how Adam really is as a person,” ends co-director Šimánek.
