Review of Downhill Racer (1969) by Arth J — 30 Dec 2018

To Absorb Humility Over Art.

Downhill Racer.

Ritchie's eerie camera work and sharp editing manages to keep the drama enthralling as much as the chills of the race does. And with stunning locations and clean rich production design, the film endorses the quality to its peak. Even though the entire script is directed towards the build up of the nail biting competition, personally, I feel the dramatic bits of the film oozes more energy. With stillness projected like never before, Redford charges you with his cold inhuman looks to fabricate his persona as more human. Frankly, his character isn't likeable. There is very little skin for Redford to sugar top the senses, but his conviction on his deep dark intuitions is something that we all connect to easily.

The first act is undoubtedly one of the wittiest weaved out sequence by the writers in here. Without uttering much verbal sparring, the daily routine and the places our protagonist visits, is depicted with a smoothness of "documentary" in here, it does feel real. After such a boost, the film denses up with multiple complex equations of Redford with others and milks out the three dimensional aspect out of them. The film is way too mature for its genre, or it definitely is the "first" of all, for things never do go as anticipated, and armed with such intentions, Ritchie fiddles with his viewers subconsciously.

There is no doubt on performance level, Redford on the front is a charming flawed ambitious boy that is sculpted as a man over this almost hundred minutes of journey. His persuasion on keeping the stats accurate is what attracts you even though the figures are misleading. And Hackman as the mentor, does not follow your usual arc of sweet and bitter relationship of his, his methods are effective, always. Downhill Racer is Redford surfing over eye popping locations and jaw dropping realizations of nature.