Harley & Katya

I knew nothing about this pair when I first started watching this documentary, I just liked ice skating and thought I'd give it a shot. Ultimately by the end I was absolutely heartbroken for them both. Let down and failed by the adults that should have been supporting them, they were used up and tossed away. The families were left holding the pieces together, and ultimately they didn't receive the support they needed either.

These kids, and their families deserved so much better. Katya deserved so much better.

I just hope that a lot has changed since this pair were in the spotlight, but I'm guessing it really hasn't.

7.0 stars.

As I meander through this very very sad documentary, I can only think to myself: what a crying shame. We take the lives of spectacular athletes for granted. These are people.

Katya had a lot of pressure in her life and apparently it was too much to handle. Add to this the fact that she had multiple organ problems and possibly alcohol induced epilepsy? From what I've read, alcohol induced epilepsy is just another way of saying: severe alcoholism. The way that she died... How she was alone in a cold place in a cold country, where she might have been under-appreciated... I've said this before, I repeat it: so many great athletes, politicians, celebrities, heroes, have died lonely and disillusioned by what they thought was a medical comrade..."na-zda-roh-vye?" Not so much.

I had a somewhat open mind without any high expectations about how this documentary would play out and I wasn't the slightest bit disappointed with the way it was painstakingly put together.

It is an exceptional look into the raw toughness of two highly skilled individuals that come together from two sides of the world with differing cultural backgrounds for the resolute purpose of bonding their hard earned strengths to form a spectacular winning partnership.

I found this documentary totally engaging in so many ways as it takes you through all the aspects necessary to make it to competition level and all the seesawing effects of winning and losing.

But it was the visceral psychological effects that initially creep up slowly and then shatter so quickly that will chill you to the bone and pull at your heartstrings.

This is worth a watch.

"Harley & Katya" by Selina Miles is a feature-length documentary. It's a well-funded documentary (by Australian standards). It's a sports documentary on the surface, but it goes much further than that; it goes deep into the world of figure skating and into the culture of competition surrounding the sport.

Harley, from Blacktown in Sydney, is struggling to find a matched partner; his Russian-born coaches, experts in figure skating, find him a good fit, Katya. What follows is a journey that leads to Russia and around the world as the two of them, Harley and Katya climb the world rankings.

Both Harley and Katya knew nothing about each other's homelands, and when Katya decides to come to Australia to train, she is not sure if it is Austria or Australia. This is not a love story, but you will most likely fall in love with Harley and Katya, who quickly become a figure skating powerhouse.

Want to read more, google - "perspective documentary reviews"

This documentary will not disappoint, even if you are not a fan of competitive ice skating.

The narrative is strong and interviews are well done and included with amazing footage of the pair training and competing. It also gives you a wonderful insight into the world of competitive ice skating in Australia and the battles the athletes have emotionally, physically and financially.

It is a wonderfully engaging documentary and I was fully captivated the whole time and sad to see it end.

It is also devastatingly sad to know what Katya was going through and what she had went through in her pursuit of excellence.

A definite must watch.