Hockey night
Karin & I watched Hockey Night, a modest, Canadian sporting flick from 1984. Everything on the screen reminded me of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario (the movie’s actual setting is Parry Sound). Megan Follows (Anne of Green Gables) gives a compelling performance.
What a tenderhearted movie this is. We associate sport with youthfulness. The best sporting movies are about coming of age or finding acceptance (or both): think of Breaking Away, Chariots of Fire, Hoop Dreams, Hoosiers, Lucas, My Life as a Dog, Rocky, Rudy …
Though Hockey Night is not quite as good, it conveys a similar feeling. Amidst the high drama of competition, the climax of a sporting movie can be surprisingly gentle, as if clouds were parting to reveal the sun.
This reflects the denouement of actual sport. There’s a moment when we quietly understand that all is settled. A scoring play is imminent, or the tide has irreversibly turned; we feel victorious even while we’re still losing (or we foresee defeat while we’re ahead).
Hockey Night understands this. It bypasses the crucial game and goes directly to the locker room.
I’ve viewed no leaner sports movie. Only the first hockey match is played out in detail; the others are hardly shown. We know their outcomes because they are logical consequences of the heart.
What a tenderhearted movie this is. We associate sport with youthfulness. The best sporting movies are about coming of age or finding acceptance (or both): think of Breaking Away, Chariots of Fire, Hoop Dreams, Hoosiers, Lucas, My Life as a Dog, Rocky, Rudy …
Though Hockey Night is not quite as good, it conveys a similar feeling. Amidst the high drama of competition, the climax of a sporting movie can be surprisingly gentle, as if clouds were parting to reveal the sun.
This reflects the denouement of actual sport. There’s a moment when we quietly understand that all is settled. A scoring play is imminent, or the tide has irreversibly turned; we feel victorious even while we’re still losing (or we foresee defeat while we’re ahead).
Hockey Night understands this. It bypasses the crucial game and goes directly to the locker room.
I’ve viewed no leaner sports movie. Only the first hockey match is played out in detail; the others are hardly shown. We know their outcomes because they are logical consequences of the heart.