Into The Darkness (DVD)
Out of Sight by Marcus Taylor
This modest 35-minute film covers the ground-breaking 2004/5 explorations of Italian Alpine cave system the Cogol dei Veci, carried out by Britain's leading exploratory cave-divers, Rick Stanton and John Volanthen.
One nice aspect is seeing Volanthen get his share of the limelight. He usually seems to be in the shadow of the more experienced Stanton.
An obvious problem in documenting this sort of exploration is that the camera can't follow where such divers go. You reach frustrating impasses at which the narrator says: 'We may not now see the divers for another 16 hours.' There is no easy answer, other than helmet cameras, which have their own pitfalls.
In 2004 the divers passed through a 2.4km water-filled sump, the limit of previous exploration by Olivier Isler, then managed to negotiate 350m of dry passage and penetrate 400m into a second sump.
The following year they camped in the passage, and were able to video themselves at that point, but we have to rely on their descriptions when they return to find out what happens. If you don't know how far they got, I won't spoil it for you.
Much of the film has to be devoted to expedition preparations and talking heads,
but because Marcus Taylor takes such careful aim in conveying what motivates extreme cave-divers, and in explaining what their dedication involves, his film is worth watching. Recommended.
Steve Weinman
Upanddown Films
www.upndownfilms.com
35min, £12.00
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