Bouldering. That’s like, training for real climbing, sort of the bottom rung of the ladder, right? So it was for many decades, but there’s a rich history as far back as the later 1800s for short, hard, rope-less climbing. It’s climbing in its purest form, so does that make it the top of the ladder? Blocheads is a exploration of that history, focusing on its development in Britain and the achievements of the island’s climbers (and it’s currently streaming on Amazon Prime!)
From the 1890’s, to the Bleausards in France, to John Gill, John Bachar, Jerry Moffatt, and beyond, bouldering has spanned generations. Blocheads explores each era in two time lines – bouncing between progressively more recent history and the present. With a combination of moving black and white photos and voiceover exposition, many of this film’s historical segments have a very Valley Uprising feel to them. Like Valley Uprising, it brings archival footage and interviews with the who’s who, interspersed with a decent soundtrack (it’s so rare to get punk rock tunes, even if only for a moment). As it moved into more recent history I sat transfixed listening to Jerry Moffatt talk about what drew him in, and a lot of the themes and sentiments of the “old timers” resonate true even today. Even for the lay audience, the voiceover breaks things down into a manageable way that might bore the more experienced watcher, but are a nice add for the newly converted.
The film does a decent job of bridging the gaps between the older era and the modern, showing seasoned crushers still developing and crushing, and even highlighting a boulder outside that employs that parkour run-start trickery I complain about on gym comment-cards whenever I’m given a reason to. Additional time is devoted to the first British bouldering competition, held in the real deal outdoors with the likes of one Ben Moon.
Even with all the history, there’s plenty of actual modern climbing, much of it Dan Varian on double digit stuff spread across the UK, with he and others putting up first ascents. Sadly, for me this was probably my least favorite part of the film. Some of it was quite compelling – actually getting to see the holds that John Gaskins famously held (no small feat), and thought provoking highball footage certainly had my attention. Dan’s FA of Rocking Spectre is one of those things so gross that you can’t help but stare. Beyond those few, I found a lot of the more recent footage didn’t excite me, however I attribute a portion of that to Varian barely being on my radar – my fault, not his. The only other detractor I can cite is the voiceover that comes off strange in tone and a little too present as the film progresses.
It’s not a perfect film, but the history and interviews make it worth a little of your time.
Verdict: Watch it – if you’re a British Bouldering or History Fanboy. Most of this film is excellent, but some of the most modern ascents showcased just fall flat.
The Who (This includes anyone I saw fly past in montages)
John Gill
Ben Moon
Jerry Moffatt
Dave Macelod
Dave Sutcliffe
Steve Dunning
Al Manson
Jerry Peel
Dan Varian
Don Whillans
Ricky Bell
Oscar Eckenstein
Leo Holding
Johnny Dawes
Chris Davies
Nick Dixon
Shauna Coxey
Mikey Cleverdon
Alex Waterhouse
Mick Lovett
Graham Desroy
Pierre Alain
The Where
Eavestones, Yorkshire
Bridestones Yorkshire
Lake District
Dove Crag
Queen’s Crag, Northumberland
Great Orme
Callay Crag
Murlough Bay
Stag Do
Bonehill Rocks
The What
Robbed at Dunn Point FA
High Fidelity
Soul Fusion
The Razor
Path of Intrigue
Ill Gotten Gains
Queen Kong
Rocking Spectre
Barn door traverse 1890
The Joker
Blondie FA
Gentleman’s Arete
Careless Torque
Arthur FA
Lupino Lane