Test: It's been ten years since Marco Pantani's lonely death in a hotel room in Rimini sent the cycling world into shock. Ten years in which a lot has happened. And in which his person was never forgotten.
On the occasion of the round anniversary of death, Black Films Production wrote a documentary that premiered a few weeks ago. The title: Pantani - The Accidental Death of a Cyclist.
The film is divided into nine chapters and traces the life of the fragile Italian, from his first bike race on his mother's bike to his historic Giro Tour double in 1998 and his death. The filmmakers focus primarily on what happened in Madonna di Campiglio in 1999, when she was excluded from the Giro of that year. Pantani had dominated the race but had been warned before the stage to win again. The conspiracy after his exclusion was inevitable.
Pantani's end is well known and it speaks for the film that in addition to his parents, contemporaries such as Piotr Urumov, Evgeni Berzin and Marco Velo, but also new Heroes like Bradley Wiggins are allowed to have their say. The perspectives of critical journalists like David Walsh are also impressive. "Doping", it says "Maybe kept him from winning cleanly, in part because he was forced into a system."
The person Pantani is in no way artificially elevated, as one might expect. Rather, the documentation is sensitive, albeit neutral. Voices are allowed to work, so that the viewer can form his own picture of the Italian and his story. The film has only one small flaw. One would wish for some episodes from Pantani's life to be more detailed - but then the frame of 90 minutes would easily be exceeded.
Conclusion
Pantani: The Accidental Death of a Cyclist is a sensitive portrait that tries to approach the person of Pantani in a neutral way. And this succeeds. The film is not only for die-hard fans of the Italian, but also for those who want a behind-the-scenes look at cycling and its dark twists and turns in the late 'XNUMXs.
product Highlights
- entertaining
- well structured
- varied lighting
price and web
- 15,00 Euros
- www.pantanifilm.com