Downhill homage to skiing siblings
Olympic- medalist skiers from snow- deprived Croatia, siblings Janica and Ivica Kostelic spent their formative years living variously out of tents and cars and training relentlessly under their former- handball- player father and coach, Ante. In the documentary “Gnothi Seauton” ( roughly “Know Thyself ”), slow- motion montages of the skiers’ training regimen tediously show them jumping through obstacle courses as cameras f lash, diving off a cliff with an underwater cameraman on standby and looking out pensively as they posed for hero shots.
Filmmaker Bruno Kovacevic’s artless direction gives the f ilm the aesthetic and aura of a corporate orientation video. Scored and edited to tug at the heart- strings, it hammers home how Janica and Ivica Kostelic beat the odds, overcame injuries and endured multiple surgeries. The voice- over narration is overwrought and corny: “Like a bikini, little was seen, and later it became clear that what was hidden was much sweeter.”
Most of the interviews are so tangential that they sound like slopeside filler on ESPN rather than something insightful. We hear so little of substance from Janica and Ivica Kostelic that they come off like one- dimensional game bots focused only on Olympic gold. “Gnothi Seauton.” No MPAA rating. Running time: 1 hour, 33 minutes. Playing: Laemmle Music Hall 3, Beverly Hills.