A Longa Corrida

This is a South African propaganda film wherein all the blacks and all the whites interact as if race has never been an issue. The utter lack of tension between the haves and have nots is so distracting that for awhile I thought that this was an intentional plot device and that there would eventually be some secret revealed to explain the phony harmony. No such luck.

Whoever wrote, directed, and produced this movie knows very little about what real marathon running is like (many pudgy athletes easily cover 20-40 miles while not even one runner who looks like a long distance runner is shown!)..

The female lead is very beautiful, and she can act, but she can't run. Her backstory is tantalizingly, but no details ever are offered to explain how this illegal alien has learned such perfect English, self composure, and good mental hygiene. She is the second lead in the film and all we know is that she can run (it would be nice to know why), and that she is smarter than and unafraid of all whites, men, and governmental authorities (why and how this is so is an unforgivable omission).

I am almost always a big fan of Mueller-Stahl, but here he is given nothing to work with. He plays an embittered coach who at 60 still cannot train his athletes without reliving his own humiliating experiences in the same race 40 years before. The story unfolds in fits and starts, jumping over gaping plot holes while lingering forever on Mueller-Stahl's quite unbelievably self-absorbed and obviously ineffective dedication to training runners. By the day of the big race he is totally psychotic, becoming more and more unhinged the closer his runner comes to actually winning the race. Again, a little more backstory could have made his Germanic anal retentiveness less cliched.

It is never made clear what the coach's goal for his prodigy is: to finish, to make it past the hill he himself couldn't conquer, or to actually win. All we know is that he treats her like a robot and screams annoyingly at her to always slow down. No wonder his methods are at one point referred to as "eccentric".

This movie was made with an agenda to depict South Africa in insultingly inaccurate ways. Can anyone still spell apartheid?

The previous commentator who rated this film "1" based on seeing the last 10 minutes is laughable and irresponsible. This is a sensitive and will-developed film about a lonely old failed-runner turned coach who lives for running and finds a promising young woman refugee whom he wants to train for this grueling race. She is an illegal refugee from Namibia who runs to forget her troubles -- not into racing -- and he rescues her from deportation and takes over her life in order to train her. Eventually she rebels and leaves because she is young and wants a life of her own, but returns to running and works with him and his bunch of male runners as her group support. The cinematography is excellent and the music -- using local native bands and songs of prominence -- first rate. If the film were such a travesty on racing, why would the sponsoring organization of this grueling race cooperate with and allow the movie to be shot as an exemplar of the race. How many American runners have run 90k? With a good part of the race toward the end a steep uphill? This is a fine movie, a heart-warming story, unlike the vast majority of sock-em, kill-em, torture-em or gen-x mixed-up kids seeking their identity.

Well, I only caught the tail end of this film on HBO, just the final 10 minutes or so, but I must say that it contains probably the most laughable depiction of distance running EVER put on film! I'm a serious distance runner and a dedicated fan of the sport, and I've sat through many painful demonstrations in movies before. However, nothing could have ever prepared me for what is shown on screen in the final 10 minutes of this movie, it literally defies belief! The depiction of the runners is even more ironic considering that African runners completely dominate the sport, and they are elegant and graceful. The female protagonist shuffles along like an overweight pregnant woman, and her "highly trained" male supporters are no better. Well into the race this alleged world class runner is surrounded by pudgy, overweight people, many of whom are WALKING! I find it interesting that the director decided to have her lead the female competition, yet near the end she is shown passing people who look like they're staggering along on two broken legs! Are we to believe that this amazing stellar athlete has only overtaken a crippled person at the very end of the race? Maybe the director just thinks that female runners can't run faster than 12 minute miles, and he has obviously never heard of athletes like Paula Radcliffe or Tirunesh Dibaba.

Even if you aren't a running fan you'll be astonished by the insanely inaccurate portrayal of running, and this movie is only watchable as unintentional comedy. Here is a note to the director: The next time you decide to make a movie about a sport, it might be worth it to hire at least one person who actually has observed that sport in action.

Set in 1999, post-APartheid South African, this film begins with an elderly white brickworks manager who has a strong interest in long-distance running.

He has been training some of his employees for a ultra-long-distance race, the Comrades Marathon. Deprived of this, he finds himself at a loose end.

He then notices Christine, a young Blakc African woman who regularly runs long distances and has never had any training. She is an illegal immigrant, who faced hostility from some of the local Black Africans. When she is arrested, he gets her released and invites her to live with him. He has no sexual interest in her - she later describes it as being viewed like a racehorse.

Christing several times asserts herself. The film culminates in her taking part in the actual race.

I found that there was rather too much about the dull relationship between coach and runner. A better film would have shown flashbacks to the past of the race, not always open to blacks or women, and to the coach's own past as a runner. Still, it gave an authentic-seeming view of South Africa and the running culture.

Even if you are not a runner, you'll enjoy this film. It has wonderful dramatic and emotional highs and lows - get your tissues ready for the end! It has plenty of real life frustration, without the usual Hollywood gloss. Armin Mueller-Stahl is terrific, on many levels of the characterisation.