Unlike most new Russian movies, this one is actually watchable to the end, yet it has several flaws. There are three things that the movie does well. It develops the character of Elena Vyalbe as a determined, ruthless, and patriotic athlete. I don't know, if in real life Elena is exactly the same, but the character displayed in the movie fits the stereotype of what you expect of a sports champion. The movie also portrays coaches fairly as tough, but caring. Lastly, the movie gives credit to the team dynamics and how the behavior and achievements of Elena's teammates adds up to her personal record.
The main problems with the movie that dilute positive impressions from watching it are poor story line and cinematography. The movie overall is structured chronologically from Elena's childhood and culminates with her epic victories in the World Cup in Norway. There are awkward omissions and gaps due to too much narrative that doesn't fit the run time. The biggest gap is when the second man in Elena's life appears for the first time in Norway with the pretense that they already know each other, yet this is totally out of the blue for the audience. No movie time at all is dedicated to Elena's competing in Olympics. There is a short fast-forward collage of victories without any sense of what it took to achieve them. There are several flashback moments that throw off the linear narrative and not clear what was the purpose of inserting them out of order. Despite the movie omitting important biographical milestones, there are several episodes like the flag change in the Kremlin and the artificial over dramatization of the final race that are either unnecessary or too long. Visiting the residence of the royal in Norway was clearly important and dear to Elena, yet she didn't have to show it twice in the movie that cut corners on many other things. Cinematography for competition scenes is terrible. In the close up shots the actors do something else with their arms, but definitely not skiing. Adding slow motion to the race scenes misrepresents what in reality is a really graceful and agile sport. Luckily, in the end credits the movie includes actual race footage, including the unedited real final moments of the relay in Trondheim. When you watch those you will feel sorry for all the time and effort the director wasted bastardizing those scenes earlier in the movie... The acting overall is OK.
The main problems with the movie that dilute positive impressions from watching it are poor story line and cinematography. The movie overall is structured chronologically from Elena's childhood and culminates with her epic victories in the World Cup in Norway. There are awkward omissions and gaps due to too much narrative that doesn't fit the run time. The biggest gap is when the second man in Elena's life appears for the first time in Norway with the pretense that they already know each other, yet this is totally out of the blue for the audience. No movie time at all is dedicated to Elena's competing in Olympics. There is a short fast-forward collage of victories without any sense of what it took to achieve them. There are several flashback moments that throw off the linear narrative and not clear what was the purpose of inserting them out of order. Despite the movie omitting important biographical milestones, there are several episodes like the flag change in the Kremlin and the artificial over dramatization of the final race that are either unnecessary or too long. Visiting the residence of the royal in Norway was clearly important and dear to Elena, yet she didn't have to show it twice in the movie that cut corners on many other things. Cinematography for competition scenes is terrible. In the close up shots the actors do something else with their arms, but definitely not skiing. Adding slow motion to the race scenes misrepresents what in reality is a really graceful and agile sport. Luckily, in the end credits the movie includes actual race footage, including the unedited real final moments of the relay in Trondheim. When you watch those you will feel sorry for all the time and effort the director wasted bastardizing those scenes earlier in the movie... The acting overall is OK.
