Sport Documentaries, Selection of

Movies with a sports backdrop just provoke me from the inside. I have this problem that I easily doze off if I start a movie after 2237 Hours. Not surprisingly, this doesn't seem to apply to the sports genre, I am glued, I am moved, I go through an emotional roller-coaster. Something about them to which I can relate to at a very deep level I guess. There is always something you can take away from them. True stories are so much easier to learn from. Enough chit-chat, getting to the point - I completed quite a few such movies over the year, here I pen my key thoughts about the ones that stand out.

In order of when I watched them:

1. Pawn Sacrifice (Bobby Fischer, Chess)

The movie revolves around the famous game between Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky during the Cold War. The match was for the World Chess Championship. The movie clearly tries to tell you that the Soviets had a big hold on the World Chess. Bobby Fischer was supposed to the outside challenge who would try to upset this monopoly. The whole movie has a disturbed tone because of Fischer played superbly by Tobey Maguire, is shown as a top-quality player who is also delusional. He trusts no one, curses the Jews, put absurd conditions for the matches to go through, even demands the television be removed from his room because he thinks the Russians are spying. As much as the journey is about Fischer winning the World Championship it is about Fischer's emotional decline and paranoia.

Real vs. Reel

Learning: The law of averages dictates that if there will always be something that will pull you down, in this case, Fischer's own paranoia results in him getting pulled away from the game he was so skilled at.

Quote UnQuote: "I'm not playing until all my conditions are met. I want at least five feet between me and the audience. It's like I can hear their thoughts.", Bobby Fischer


2. Eddie the Eagle (Eddie Edwards, Olympic ski jumping)

The movie is essentially about the Olympic Spirit and about this random looking jump made in the 1988 Winter Olympics held in Calgary. The movie is full of cliches, but the rawness and the admiration you would develop for Eddie through the movie will overpower them. Eddie is a bespeckled boy whose only dream is to be an Olympian. He first tries all the Summer Olympics events and fails, his father tells him he will never be an athlete. He then finds out that Great Britain had no entry for the ski jump event in the Winter Olympics. From then, the movie is about Eddie making the jump and flying like an eagle. In the end, he comes last in his event and makes a possible fool of his country at the highest level. The key takeaway is that Eddie's never-say-die approach. It is an inspirational story.

Real vs. Reel

Learning: The true spirit of Olympics was envisioned as players getting together and competing for the love of the game. Eddie stands true to this spirit.

Quote UnQuote: "For as long as I can remember it has been my ambition to become an Olympian. I just needed to find the right sport.", Eddie Edwards

3. Race (Jesse Owens, Athletics/Olympics)

The movie is about the rise and rise of Jesse Owens. Jesse's talent is discovered at the Ohio State University. Everyone is surprised at how good he really is, he is quickly touted as Olympics material. The movie then takes a turn into the serious issues of that time, the racial discrimination and the Aryan supremacy agenda that Hitler was brewing for the Olympics. After battling with his inner conscience and the politics around, Jesse goes on to win four gold medals at the Berlin Olympics, this story is full of struggle, the difficulties faced by coloured people at the time and the inspiring tale of Jesse Owens. Stephan James gives a powerful performance as Owens and really takes you back to that time.

Real vs. Reel

Learning: It is important that you back your skill with equal amounts of courage to put down the people who discourage you. He faces resistance from both coloured and white people, he still chooses to go and fight the dogma which was set during that time.

Quote UnQuote: "Out there, there ain’t no black and white. There’s only fast and slow. Nothing matters, not colour, not money, not even hate. For those ten seconds, you are completely free.", Jesse Owens

4. M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story (Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Cricket)

I like the call this movie the hater squasher. If anyone had any doubts about Dhoni, they should see this movie. This movie will surely absolve them of their sins. Dhoni suddenly burst out on the scene, we were all gaga over him and before we knew he was doing everything right. What we did not know was the journey behind the fame, the struggle behind that helicopter shot. It would kill someone to imagine Dhoni juggling the Ticket Collector job and his cricket practice and still not getting any breaks. How he is turned down multiple downs before even properly being tested. Even though you know the output, you get engrossed in the movie and think that maybe job security was the better way out. This journey is about hard work and backing that up with a bag full of hope that things will work out for the good. If Dhoni would have broken down and given in to the pressure around him, god knows how Indian Cricket would have looked right now. This movie teaches you that if you believe in yourself and you have the talent, you will make it big.

Real vs. Reel

Learning: The Iceberg Illusion - Success is not an overnight phenomenon. The surface seems fancy and confident, what we don't see is that beneath the surface, there were numerous failures, endless tears and immense hard work.

Quote UnQuote: "Life me sab ball ek saman thodi na milega, merit par khelna hai aur tike rahna hai, scoreboard apne aap badhega (You will not get the same ball every time in life, hold your ground by playing according to the situation and the scoreboard will take care of itself)", A K Ganguly

5. I am Bolt  (Usain Bolt, Athletics/Olympics)

The movie is not perfectly timed, there are times when it feels very slow and confusing. Generally, that is a deal breaking, but in this context, it is not. The movie tries it best to show the psyche of Bolt. How it works, what inspires him and what makes him the best. What I like best about this movie is how true it feels. It doesn't feel like you are listening to a man who has seen it all, it feels like he is just a normal person and you can also face such problems in life. He talks about how he gets distracted, how he gets motivated when people trash talk about him, how he always gets fit in time for the big race. This movie follows Bolt between the World Championship in Beijing, 2015 and the Rio Olympics in 2016. Tracking through this journey, the movie covers his rest of the life by taking timely flashbacks. It is a great way to get to know possibly the greatest athelte of all time.

Learning: Even the greatest and most successful people end up being low on motivation. They also look around and look for things that will inspire them back to chase the success that has made them famous. I love the part where Bolt is low on inspiration before the Rio Olympics because he says he has done it all and what not. Suddenly he hears Gatlin trash talking on TMZ and he gets the kick which he was missing throughout.

Quote UnQuote: "I have to show who I am, play with the crowd, play with the camera. When people come to a race, part of it is the anticipation, "What is he going to do?", Usain Bolt


6. I am Ali (Muhammad Ali, Boxing)

A very delicately made documentary, it tries to inspire you by baring it all. It shows the legend in the making, the challenges he faced, his beleifs, the lives he touched and the impact that he made in the society. Through timely interjections with the people who were close to him and through real tapes which Ali recorded himself, the journey through the movie is amazing. Unlike most sports films, this one focuses more on the life than the important sporting moments. That is what makes this different and much more impactful. With testimonials from rivals and the family of rivals, this movie surely reveals the man behind this tough legend which we all know about.

Learning: You are much more than you think you are. I never knew about how important a part Ali played. He was not just a boxer, he was much more that that. An activist, a peoples' person. He made sure his voice was heard and he made sure he did as much right as possible in the world. Amen to that. Rest in Peace.

Quote UnQuote: "Float like a butterfly sting like a bee.", Muhammad Ali

I hope I will inspire you to watch one of these next. Let me know which one I should watch next. Happy Holidays!

Honourable Mentions: Pelé: Birth of a Legend, Budhia Singh – Born to Run, Dangal