The Flying Scotsman
A biopic of Graeme Obree (Jonny Lee Miller), Scottish cycling champion, twice holder of the one hour and pursuit world records. Battling some vicious demons, he creates a revolutionary bike design that propels him to the one hour record of 51.596 km, beating the 8-year-old record set by Francesco Moser. But in doing so, the cycling establishment (”WCF” in the film, but UCI in actuality) grew to hate the home made design (made from salvaged bikes and washing machine parts) because it could destroy the market for high-priced bikes. To throw a wrench into the works, the rule-making body started interpreting the rules by the “spirit” of the rules rather than the letter, such the any modification to the bike or Obree’s riding position would be deemed “illegal”.
Obree’s depression was considerable, even attempting suicide at one point. But he did have a support structure in place: a loving wife, Anne (Laura Fraser), and several very good friends including his manager Malkee (Billy Boyd), which seems to have saved him. It’s a moving and compelling story.
The film is doubly good in that it doesn’t succumb to the Hollywood schmaltzy “common man does good” tripe with weeping violins and the like. The emotion of the film comes through without any overt orchestration or any feeling of being manipulated.
The film is based on Obree’s autobiography which will be next on my reading list.
June 30th, 2008 at 2:50 pm
[...] Watch or read The Flying Scotsman for an example of just how petty and spiteful the UCI can be. Double [...]