Sporty shows to fill your Dance card
The Last Dance has been a godsend for sports fans crushed by the absence of live sports during the coronavirus crisis. The epic docuseries about NBA superstar Michael Jordan and his final championship season with the Chicago Bulls has also been one of the TV highlights of the year, transcending its core subject, taking on hot topics such as the culture of celebrity, race and economics.
But the curtain fell on The Last Dance last Monday, with the broadcast of the final two instalments. If it has whetted your appetite for more sports documentaries, here are four candidates that should be at the top of your list.
O.J: Made in America (available to buy/rent on DVD)
It wouldn’t be too off-base to call this 10-part film The Godfather of sports documentaries. Like The Last Dance, this Oscar-winning 2016 series from director Ezra Edelman goes far beyond its sports foundation to sharply probe issues of even greater resonance. The centrepiece of the film, of course, is the trial of former football great
O J Simpson, accused of murdering his wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend
Ron Goldman. Chronicling Simpson’s rise and fall with a propulsive narrative, the film utilises Simpson as a pivot to probe the racial tensions, obsession with celebrity, and other societal issues that shadowed America then.
Hoop Dreams (DocPlay/iTunes)
This fascinating landmark documentary is a revealing portrait of two promising young basketball players from Chicago. Film-makers Steve James, Frederick Marx and Peter Gilbert shot 250 hours of the pair over a five-year period, documenting their lives before high school and what happened after they graduated. Although the 1994 film is close to three hours long, it’s so engrossing that you won’t notice. And like O.J.: Made In America, it proves some harsh observations about society and race.
Senna (iTunes, YouTube)
Senna is a 2010 documentary film about Ayrton
Senna da Silva, a Brazilian Formula One driver who rose to prominence in the 1980s, and has been called the top race car driver of all time. The film, which focuses on the driver’s rivalry with French competitor Alain Prost, and is told entirely through archival footage, was a huge hit with critics and audiences. Times film critic Kenneth Turan called the film ‘‘a documentary with the pace of a thriller, a story of motors and machines that is beyond compelling because of the intensely human story it tells’’.
Free Solo (Disney+, iTunes)
Viewers of this Oscar-winning 2018 film about ‘‘free climber’’ Alex Honnold who don’t catch their breath or find their pulse racing should get checked by a doctor. Honnold made headlines when he became the first person to climb the sheer 915-metre face of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park completely without ropes, anchors or other support safety gear. Honnold tempts death constantly with his quest to climb treacherous mountains without anything to save him. Film-makers Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin also put themselves in danger as they chronicle Honnold’s journey.