Review of Downhill Racer (1969) by Ashley H — 04 Feb 2015

Downhill Racer doesn't seem to be about anything particularly important, yet there is an aura of importance surrounding its emphasis on winning and use of the Olympics as an end goal. David Chappellet (Robert Redford) is an arrogant, self-righteous, play only to win racer, but not the boisterous in-your-face type of athlete that we get in the modern era of sports-entertainment. Rather quite the opposite; quiet, often emotionless, not much to offer the world except his overdeveloped profession of downhill skiing - he's not acting in Hollywood films or demonstrating an aptitude for hosting television. Along the way he meets Carole (Camilla Sparv), the hottie in the room everybody wants a piece of - she brings the most emotion out of him we'll see, more than his coach Eugene Claire (Gene Hackman).

Other critics are taken by the imitation of life in this movie, by Redford's intention to make a film about the American ideal of winning, how well it captures it. I am not so fond of its emptiness and find it has less of a place on film. However, if you're coming just for the skiing, you won't be disappointed, there's an abundance of it. Some are going to try looking past it and see it as a movie about something beneath the skiing, that 'downhill racer' is metaphorical for... yada yada, cut the BS. We spend the majority of time looking at ski races, so no matter how much writer James Salter says he was uninterested in sports, director Michael Ritchie ultimately put out a movie that showed a majority of sports, and nothing about the context it was shown says it was anything more than competition and the suspense of competition, particularly the ending, which felt like an emptier Rocky conclusion, which also has more substance in human drama than this film.

Undoubtedly, the third act really brings things together where the first failed and the second was good, just good. In fact that's what really intrigued me most about this film - when the first 30 minutes of a movie don't do it for me, the rest usually doesn't - Downhill Racer gradually becomes more interesting. Chappellet has an in-house rivalry with teammate Johnny Creech (Jim McMullan), and before the big showdown at the Olympics, they settle their score amongst one another, resulting in the clearest personification we get of Chappellet and what this whole competitive business means to him. It's also worth noting a certain level of competition felt between David and his father in select quiet scenes, with not much more than an expression of fatherly disconcert, 'how yah gonna make money doin' this?' Though Chappellet seems less thrown off and more frustrated.

The final race for the Gold Medal is everything you could hope for, nail-biting suspense. I wouldn't be surprised if William Friedkin admitted to getting his speedy influence for POV shots in The French Connection from this film - between that and the disorientation of the editing, the audience is left helpless to imagine what difficulty it is controlling high speeds, and hoping to some degree that the racers make it to the finish line. Early on, Ritchie, DP Brian Probyn, editor Richard Harris, and the stunt skiers establish a visual style that signals to the audience when the racer is losing control; we see the road is bumpy, skis coming off the ground, cuts quick, shots tight. A solid race to the finish line looks smoother with less turbulence. How this affects the psyche of the final race is everything a film student should focus on - subtle, long-term, effective planning.