Widely billed as “The Greatest Climbing Film of All Time”, Stone Monkey was something that existed only as a legend to me for years. Recently it has been transferred over to DVD, combined with The Story of Indian Face, and a few other extras (like a compilation of Johnny Dawes rants).
Lets talk about what there is in this film – a lot of history and context backing up the importance of each climb. British gritstone climbing is notable for each route having a lengthy backstory lending the importance to the ascent. It cannot be denied that Dawes was ahead of his time in technical ability, vision, and mental fortitude, and his lines are not oft repeated. Whether that’s because he can turn off the fear in a way that the modern generation would associate with Alex Honnold, or because he was young, arrogant, and brash, is hard to say at times. Dawes opened some iconic lines, including the infamous Gaia (watch Hard Grit to find out why). He also brought a style all his own, performing bouldery dynamic movements high above gear to make ascents. Even the opening of the film is what I can only describe as parkour before it was called parkour, shown in an odd comedic dream sequence.
For me, personally, the film doesn’t stand the test of time as I would have liked. It may be because I lack the visceral connection to the proud history of English grit. It may be because I came into climbing after the proliferation of ‘sticky boots’. The sum of Dawes’ rants through both films paint him as a talented but brash man with a bit of a chip on his shoulder because he feels the world has misunderstood and continues to underestimate him. Yet in other scenes, he speaks so eloquently about the “flow”, likening climbing to a dance, and you can see the climbing world through his eyes.
VERDICT:
Stone Monkey – See it. Thoughtful commentary by Dawes and and his amazing gymnastic lead ascent of “The Quarryman” that defines dihedral climbing are worth 20 minutes of your time. I don’t know that you’d want to buy it, but I am willing to loan you my copy so you can see for yourself.
The Story of Indian Face – Skip it. While the commentary is good, 25 minutes of talking about the hardestsketchiest route of the era feels meaningless without any decent shots of the climb itself.
Johnny’s Rants – See it. If you find the man interesting, it provides a lot of meaningful insight into Dawes’ psyche and attitude.
