The Eiger Sanction, both directed by and starring Clint Eastwood, is one of those tacky classic action movies from the mid 1970’s. I chose this movie because I was looking for something cliché and cheesy, and in that endeavor, I succeeded. It was quite humorous each time there was a widely thrown punch followed by a poorly placed yet over exaggerated punching sound. Of course Eastwood does not hesitate to hit any man who dares to stand in front of him. Eastwood plays his normal role of a womanizing, hard-hitting, politically incorrect badass.

The Eiger Sanction is the story of Dr. Jonathan Hemlock, played by Clint Eastwood, who is a fine arts professor and a retired government assassin. Hemlock also happens to be a world-class climber. At first glance it would seem that this is the most cultured and well-developed character that Clint Eastwood has portrayed, but further dialogue quickly puts this notion to rest. This movie is full of classic Eastwood one-liners: “Don’t call me buddy, pal or sweetheart”.

Hemlock is strong armed into returning from retirement for one last mission. The mission requires Hemlock to kill, or sanction as it is referred too, the target during an international expedition of the north face of the Eiger, which Eastwood had twice previously failed to conquer. The sanction is unknown; all Hemlock has to go on, is that the man walks with a limp. To prepare for the climb, Hemlock travels to Arizona to an old friend’s resort and climbing school. After he is in working condition he travels to the Eiger to kill the man with the limp. While on the Eiger, tragedy strikes. A storm hits the north face from the south and complicates the expedition. (Spoil alert) All three of Hemlock’s companions die and he no longer has to figure out which one to kill.

Without supplemental research it is easy to tell that the movie is shot on location. There does not appear to be a green screen, and the mountains look correct. Impressively, the movie was filmed on site in each of the locations, in Arizona and on the Eiger itself in Grindenwald, Switzerland. Eastwood also did all of his own stunts. To prepare for the film, he went to Yosemite National Park and took a climbing course.

While training in Arizona, Eastwood’s character’s final test before traveling to the Eiger is to climb the Totem Pole in Monument Valley, Arizona. The Totem Pole is an actual sacred site for the Navajo Nation. According to an article published in the Tea Party Tribune, the Navajo Nation agreed to allow the studio to use the location, in return, the crew had to remove the rock climbing equipment that had accumulated over time. Apparently, the crew flew their equipment to the top by helicopter, but Eastwood actually made that difficult climb.

I also chose this movie because I was hoping it would remind me of Heinrich Harrer. In many ways it did, but the movie mostly reminded me of Susan Schrepfers article concerning masculinity in mountaineering. It is no surprise that Clint Eastwood would play the role of a man that embodies masculinity on the mountain.

The While Hemlock is training in Arizona, he is surrounded by beautiful women and has no problem attracting them. He is particularly infatuated with his highly attractive, yet stoic Native American climbing partner named George, played by Brenda Venus. It was this woman’s sex appeal that got Hemlock to train as hard as he did. As Hemlock struggles to reach the top of a rock face, George slips off her top, exposing her bare breasts. This gives Hemlock the motivation he needed to summit. Hemlock assumed that after his various sexual advances, he was finally going to get lucky. Sadly, it was a rouse to force Hemlock into working harder. George puts her shirt back on and starts her decent before Hemlock has the chance to reach her.

To further exemplify masculinity, one of the main obstacles for Hemlock was the overly flamboyant antagonist, Miles. This obviously homosexual man has a little dog that goes by the name “Faggot”. This dog also plays the part of a homosexual by repeatedly humping Hemlocks leg. Eastwood’s character does not hide his homophobia and makes every attempt to degrade Miles. The dialogue between these two shows that one of the underlying themes is that mountaineering is for manly men, doing manly things.

Not only did The Eiger Sanction elevate masculinity, it also made sure to deflate any feminist that would attack the issue. While Hemlock is attempting the Eiger, his trainer, Ben Bowmen, is watching from a telescope below. A female journalist approaches him and asks why do they climb; “are they trying to prove their manhood or is it more of a matter of compensating for inferiority complex?”. To this, Bowmen simply replies, “Lady, why don’t you just go get yourself screwed, it will do you a lot of good”.  It is amusing that the writers of the script were aware of the dialogue of masculinity surrounding mountaineering that they and sought to nip the notion in the bud.

Even though the movie is highly entertaining, there are two factions that did not make sense, nor did they further progress the story line. First, Hemlock’s boss, whom is subtly named Dragon, appears to be kept alive by artificial means. I assume this was an attempt to show that Dragon, in his old age, is so wealthy that he has found ways to cheat death. The second is the fact that Hemlock has a collection of rare fine paintings. The paintings are mentioned often, but it is not clear what their purpose is to the story. In total the movie is excellent, and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys comically hyper masculine, yet authentic action movies.