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Endurance

1999, Movie, G, 85 mins

Endurance: Review

ENDURANCE
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The story of how long-distance runner Haile Gebrselassie made his way from a mud hut in Ethiopia to Atlanta, GA, where he won an Olympic gold medal, might have made for a passably interesting documentary: It's certainly inspirational, in an ESPN-ish way. But British filmmaker Leslie Woodhead instead fashioned a "non-fiction feature" — essentially a dramatization of real-life events featuring a few of the real-life people — an approach as pointless as it dull. Haile grew up on his father's farm near the village of Asela, running six miles to school in the morning and working afternoons in the family fields. In 1980, young Haile listened in on his family's transistor radio as fellow Ethiopian Miruts Yifter ran to victory at the Moscow Olympics, and suddenly the world opened wide. Against his father's wishes, Haile decided to become a runner, moved to the capital city of Addis Ababa, met a nice girl and was chosen to represent his country in the 1996 summer games. There's a remarkable moment early in the film, when the real-life Gebrselassie confesses that he loved his mother much more than his abusive father, who beat Haile and his nine siblings daily. It's a startling admission, and leads one to hope that the rest of the film will be as penetrating and honest. But no such luck: The disappointingly prosaic film offers little outside of some beautiful widescreen photography and Hans Zimmer's ponderous score. Even as he crosses the Atlanta finish line, we have no idea who Haile Gebrselassie really is. The bulk of the film is made up of endless long shots of Gebrselassie panting his way across the Ethiopian landscape that give at least one impression of long-distance running: It's unbearably monotonous. leave a comment --Ken Fox
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