Stjernerne og vandbærerne

"Stars and Watercarriers" follows the fortunes of Danish cyclist Ole Ritter in the 1973 Giro d'Italia (Tour of Italy). The film's undoubted star, however, is the great Eddy Merckx, who dominates the race from start to finish. The film as a whole gives a good insight into the ins and outs of a 3 week stage race, explaining the roles and aims of the different riders in the race. The drama and heartbreak of the mountain stages, the intensity of the time trial ("the race of truth"), the quieter moments on the road, the signing in process of each stage are all covered.

There is some great race footage, featuring some of the greats of cycling, including Merckx, Ritter, Felice Gimondi, Jose Manuel Fuente, Roger de Vlaeminck, Giovanni Battaglin and Gosta Petterson.

The film is quite artfully done and avoids the blandness and cliche of the average sports documentary. There is a real emphasis on the psychology and human element of the race - we see the apparently dejected Ritter in his hotel room staring into space after a bad day in the mountains, for instance, and are given a good insight into the lead up to his time trial performance.

For cycling fans, comprehensive footage of Merckx at his peak, Fuente's daring mountain attacks and Gimondi's panache make this an absorbing and fascinating watch. For the uninformed, the film gives a good insight into the world of pro cycling (minus the more, um, seedy elements). Recommended.

We are shown the unfolding drama in the 56.Giro D'Italia which, as far as the general classification goes, wasn't so big. Eddy Merckx is on top of the game and displays this in a way that is very unusual to watch. He is taking leads on a scale that is totally gone from modern cycling. For those that understands the dynamics of cycling this is a clear indication of his superior skills. I have never seen anything like it! Afterwards I wondered if he was able to change his tactics later in his career because as I saw it it is impossible to employ this kind of tactics if he wasn't so much better than his opponents.

The film looks very aged and the race we follow cannot be compared to modern races. In that respect this movie is historical and cannot serve as an introduction to modern cycling. Although there is a chronology in what we are shown there is a lot left unsaid by Leth and so it is at times difficult, if not impossible, to know for example what the time differences is between the riders. This is to me an essential part of a cycling race as Giro D'Italia and I was missing this.

At times Leth chose to show us some decisive development in a stage but did not follow through to the end and this was again a little frustrating to me.

I would still recommend this movie as it has rare footage and unwillingly shows how much cycling sport has developed since then. This alone makes the movie worth your while.

Regards Simon

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