Downhill Racer (The Criterion Collection) (DVD)

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The only other ski movie I can think of off-hand is Werner Herzog´s singular documentary "The Great Ecstasy of the Woodcarver Steiner" (1974). Herzog uses high-speed camera equipment, relatively new at the time, to capture the excitement and poetry of his title ski jumper in action, soaring against a cloudless sky, mouth agape, something more than human until his skis touch the ground.

In "Downhill Racer," the skiers don´t fly, but even while staying firmly planted on the snow pack, they are something special to behold. Director Michael Ritchie and a team of photographers record the ski action from multiple angles, creating the visceral, kinetic, adrenaline-rush feeling that has since become a staple of specialty video outfits such as Macgillivray Freeman Films among others. Stuntman Joe Jay Jalbert, Robert Redford´s stand in on the film, even strapped on a camera and schussed down the slopes to get the skier´s POV that is one of the film´s signature touches. Jalbert went on to a successful career as a ski documentarian.

Though directed by Michael Ritchie, "Downhill Racer" was Robert Redford´s baby from the very start. An avid skier, a still early-career Redford sought to leverage the box-office success of "Barefoot in the Park" to convince Paramount to fund his dream project. It took its share of slalom-like twists and turns, one right past potential director Roman Polanski, before the film finally got off the ground with a screenplay by Redford´s hand-picked man James Salter. Redford brought Ritchie on board based on the strength of his television work and presumably also because he wouldn´t command a hefty fee on the modestly budgeted shoot.

In the pursuit of authenticity, Redford and Salter embedded themselves with the U.S. Olympic Ski Team in Grenoble, France in 1968 and the experience pays off well not only in the exciting ski shots but in the rich details surrounding the film´s fictional Olympic ski team. From the internal bickering to the omnipresent ski suppliers trying to convince the athletes to advertise their products, the film roots itself firmly in reality.

Redford plays David Chappellet, an aspiring young racer from the mid-West who is brought in to replaced an injured member of the U.S. team. Coach Claire (Gene Hackman) takes an instant dislike to the cocky, aloof intruder but has no choice but to respect him once he starts to perform at a high level. David is a narrow-minded egotist whose has only two interests: skiing and skirt-chasing. Making friends is definitely not a priority.

This sounds like the recipe for a charismatic, energetic performance but the film plays everything close to the vest. If David has a way with the ladies, it´s mostly because of his good looks and his romantic profession rather than a well of personal charm. David is not only an obsessive narcissist; he´s a bit of a wet noodle, a boor who has nary a thought in his head that doesn´t relate to skiing. When asked by a reporter what he plans to do after the Olympics, he seems surprised by the question. "This is it" is his unimaginative response. His world contains nothing else. He just wants to win because… well, because he wants to win.

The film whips past its minor subplots at world record speed, treating dialogue as a nuisance like wind shear. The film relies more on behavior than on characterization, and questions of psychology have no place on the slope. Coincidentally enough, the closest film equivalent to Sundance´s David is Butch Cassidy´s Eddie Felson from "The Hustler" (1961). Much like David off the slopes, Eddie was a dullard away from the pool table, and both films struggle to maintain interest when their characters aren´t strutting their prodigious athletic skills. "Downhill Racer" at least doesn´t waste too much screen time on melodrama though, to be fair, the film suffers by comparison for not offering an antagonist the equivalent of Minnesota Fats. The nominal bad guy here (unless you count David) is the German champion Meier whose world record provides David his only goal in life, but he remains a peripheral figure in the narrative.