Potential new figure skating movie

[ragsy]

http://www.telegram.com/news/20161114/skating-espionage-dangerous-mix-in-new-locally-made-film

 

[karne]

Sounds awful. Here he is carrying on about other movies disrespecting the sport and then his opening line is "an unknown but talented skater is picked up by a mysterious sponsor". Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah.

Just once, a nice realistic movie about real figure skating as a real sport would be great. Heck, even an anime managed a more realistic take on the sport than this.

 

[andromache]

The plot sounds like Dan Brown decided to write his next book about figure skating.

Noooooo thanks.

 

[eta]

Um. What on Earth inspired that character design?! No.

 

[xibsuarz]

The story sounds a little too fantasy-like, ironic since the director said he wants to stay 'true' to what figure skating really is. I will watch it if it's available in my country (because figure skating), but I still think it would be so much better to make a movie based on a real life skater, since there are quite a few with amazing stories that go beyond competition. But still, not so focused on the nasty drama like that movie that will be based on Tonya Harding. But I guess it wouldn't do that well in the box office without drama of that sort

 

[KatGrace1925]

Sounds awful. Here he is carrying on about other movies disrespecting the sport and then his opening line is "an unknown but talented skater is picked up by a mysterious sponsor". Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah.

Just once, a nice realistic movie about real figure skating as a real sport would be great. Heck, even an anime managed a more realistic take on the sport than this.

Someone should do a biographical film about an actual figure skater because that's the only way they might actually reperesent the struggles of a figure skater properly.

 

[SarahSynchro]

It seems like the plot will overshadow the figure skating aspect. I'm not too sure how I feel about this.

 

[karne]

Someone should do a biographical film about an actual figure skater because that's the only way they might actually reperesent the struggles of a figure skater properly.

Even then I would doubt it. They'd probably throw in some stupid made-up thing because they couldn't help themselves.

Granted, Max as a secret spy would be pretty cool. :agree:

 

[andromache]

There needs to be a teen drama tv show based on Eteri's group. I would pay money for a teen drama showing the highs and lows of being a teenage superstar surrounded by future teenage superstars, complete with snark, rivalries/friendships, despair and heartbreak, and various romantic subplots with various available teenage boys. They can even throw in an obligatory cliche eating disorder subplot. Have you guys watched Make it or Break It about gymnastics? I want that but with figure skating. Lots of genuine respect for the sport and serious sports-related struggled coupled with regular human stuff.

Or a movie chronicling the rivalry of Yagudin versus Plushenko, though I don't think there's a natural climax where the movie would then end, since Plushenko's career went on for years after Alexei's retirement.

Underdog stories make the best sports films. Shen and Zhao's rise to greatness? Or Mao Asada's career up through the 2014 Olympics - child prodigy, through rivalry, through various struggles, through that nightmare SP, ending with a triumphant though medal-less and and bittersweet LP. Oooooooh Rudy Galindo would make a great underdog story.

 

[rollerblade]

Shen and Zhao's rise to greatness? Or Mao Asada's career up through the 2014 Olympics - child prodigy, through rivalry, through various struggles, through that nightmare SP, ending with a triumphant though medal-less and and bittersweet LP. Oooooooh Rudy Galindo would make a great underdog story.

I would watch all of these! They all sound like tear-jerkers though.

 

[vivley]

Lol! At first I thought the title of this thread said "new figure skating move" instead of "movie".

I was so curious to see what potential new FS move had been invented! Oh well, someday...

 

[VIETgrlTerifa]

I would actually love it if someone took the book The Second Mark (the story of the 2002 SLC Pairs competition with background and life information on all three pairs and the skating culture of each country) and turned it into a miniseries. To me, there's so much there and the audience can gain a lot of sympathy for all of the skaters where the suspense and fall out of the 2002 Olympics pairs competition can seem really bittersweet.

 

[Mango]

I would actually love it if someone took the book The Second Mark (the story of the 2002 SLC Pairs competition with background and life information on all three pairs and the skating culture of each country) and turned it into a miniseries. To me, there's so much there and the audience can gain a lot of sympathy for all of the skaters where the suspense and fall out of the 2002 Olympics pairs competition can seem really bittersweet.

But I don't think people would be happy with that ending. You pick sides in a situation like that, so having two winners is not satisfactory to fans of either side. There's people who, to this day, don't accept Jamie and David's gold medal.

I second the request for a Mao biopic, but would ask that it ends with her triumph at 2014 Worlds. Setting the SP world record and winning in front of a home crowd...that's the stuff of sports movies.

 

[VIETgrlTerifa]

But I don't think people would be happy with that ending. You pick sides in a situation like that, so having two winners is not satisfactory to fans of either side. There's people who, to this day, don't accept Jamie and David's gold medal.

I second the request for a Mao biopic, but would ask that it ends with her triumph at 2014 Worlds. Setting the SP world record and winning in front of a home crowd...that's the stuff of sports movies.

I think that's the beauty of it. You could pick a side, but why be so binary about it? The miniseries will really be about everything else, not the result. What got all three pairs teams to where they are, the cultural differences, all of the skaters' totally interesting backgrounds (the harshness of Harbin in the economic after effects of a changing China with Bin Yao and dealing with his own personal history and his coach who wasn't given opportunities to live out his skating dreams; David growing up in a small Canadian town in the middle of nowhere and Jamie and her single mother having to fight the odds to get back to the Canadian skating scene, them being each other's second chance and skating success and dealing with their budding and very tumultuous romantic relationship; Elena moving from her small town to Moscow and being isolated and in a totally abusive relationship and Anton in St. Petersburg and dealing with being a male skater who was good but not always motivated AND MOSKVINA who is worth a story all of her own), the figure skating culture and politics, internal politics, showing each team and their coaching team's point-of-view, etc. Also revealing all the different point-of-views of who should have won (totally debated) and whether a second gold was unfair (Hongbo's mom didn't agree with it as S/Z never got a second gold at 1999 Worlds after the toe-tapping scandal resulted in two of the sitting judges getting suspended but felt the ISU did it this time because the Canadian Fed was more powerful than the Chinese one....though many would probably agree it was the ISU and IOC wanting to avoid scandal with a quick fix), etc. There are so many layers to this story. It's beyond black and white. Plus the REAL ending is S/Z a year later at 2003 Worlds finally earning a 6.0...on the second mark...the part that had hurt them all the time at that point in their career.

 

[reneerose]

I would actually love it if someone took the book The Second Mark (the story of the 2002 SLC Pairs competition with background and life information on all three pairs and the skating culture of each country) and turned it into a miniseries. To me, there's so much there and the audience can gain a lot of sympathy for all of the skaters where the suspense and fall out of the 2002 Olympics pairs competition can seem really bittersweet.

That is a great idea! Or maybe do a miniseries very loosely based on a competition that isn't a thriller subplot....have never seen any really good figure skating related movies at all.....

 

[Mango]

Quote

It would be hard to focus on just the lead up and not the final outcome. And I think you are overestimating the interest people would have in such a story if it was indeed a mini series. If the story ended with the 2002 Olympics then there would only be a mention of the 2003 season as the story wraps up - meaning the focus on the 2003 Worlds would be very little. In fact, more importance would be given to the introduction of IJS, how this event marked a turning point in the history of the ISU.

 

[solani]

Why is everyone so negative about this? Sure, I myself like figure skating documentaries better than figure skating movies, but I have nothing against a good thriller set in the World of FS. And it doesn't have to be overly realistic, thrillers rarely are.
Such a movie could make FS more popular and I guess that's something we all want. And more popular would mean more potential movies/documentaries.

 

[andromache]

I think that's the beauty of it. You could pick a side, but why be so binary about it? The miniseries will really be about everything else, not the result. What got all three pairs teams to where they are, the cultural differences, all of the skaters' totally interesting backgrounds (the harshness of Harbin in the economic after effects of a changing China with Bin Yao and dealing with his own personal history and his coach who wasn't given opportunities to live out his skating dreams; David growing up in a small Canadian town in the middle of nowhere and Jamie and her single mother having to fight the odds to get back to the Canadian skating scene, them being each other's second chance and skating success and dealing with their budding and very tumultuous romantic relationship; Elena moving from her small town to Moscow and being isolated and in a totally abusive relationship and Anton in St. Petersburg and dealing with being a male skater who was good but not always motivated AND MOSKVINA who is worth a story all of her own), the figure skating culture and politics, internal politics, showing each team and their coaching team's point-of-view, etc. Also revealing all the different point-of-views of who should have won (totally debated) and whether a second gold was unfair (Hongbo's mom didn't agree with it as S/Z never got a second gold at 1999 Worlds after the toe-tapping scandal resulted in two of the sitting judges getting suspended but felt the ISU did it this time because the Canadian Fed was more powerful than the Chinese one....though many would probably agree it was the ISU and IOC wanting to avoid scandal with a quick fix), etc. There are so many layers to this story. It's beyond black and white. Plus the REAL ending is S/Z a year later at 2003 Worlds finally earning a 6.0...on the second mark...the part that had hurt them all the time at that point in their career.

This would actually be amazing and perfect. Starts in 1998 and shows the buildup to the next Olympics, structured around a series of flashbacks revealing what all of them have been through at various points in the past to get them to where they are now.

Ends on the two gold medals. Then we get some "epilogue" text across the screen regarding the futures of all the characters, ending on the triumphs of Shen and Zhao at the 2003 Worlds and then the 2010 Olympic gold.

 

[cathlen]

Javier Fernandez has an interesting biography too. I mean, coming from totally no figure skating country, being 35 in his first Worlds, being coached by Morozov and travelling with his group, then moving to Canada, starting to achieve some succes, but again some dissapointment in missing podium at Olympics, only to win World Championships next season and making history for Spain! Add Miki to that, to make it more romantic and voila! Perfect Hollywood story

But I'm not against this new movie, at least figure skating is getting some recognition. It's not like other sports are all getting some super serious screenplays, either. Just look how baseball or American football is portatrayd in many American movies...

 

[MaiKatze]

My ideal: J-Drama with Miyu Honda as an aspiring figure skater making it big in the world. She wouldn't need a double and could do the skating as well as the acting. Might still be a bit early but at an older age I can see it happening. And Japan loves their sports drama.