At its heart, 9 Races is a sports film about a jockey pushing himself through a grueling day of races despite having fallen off on one of the first runs. Injured but determined, he faces risk to get back on the next horse.
The way I have written that plot summary makes it sound like it is a fairly typical "underdog" story which will probably end with the jockey pulling the big career win out in the clutch. The reality is that the jockey will end the film on a hospital gurney, and the small stage on which he was competing offers no real glory or fame even for those that win. The film works with this well, and the delivery is not so much about the push for a big win, but rather something closer to identity and the fear of losing that core of who the lead character is. He is a jockey and there is a meditative feeling throughout the film that deciding to stop risks losing that which makes him him.
The concluding scenes of the film sum this up very well (the lead character doesn't finish his sentence about why he needs to go on – but the other person doesn't need him to). Along the way it has a loose approach which is immersive in atmosphere even if it is loose in narrative content. The end result is convincing in the way it captures and explores the character – having the good sense to remain intangible while still pointing to something.
The way I have written that plot summary makes it sound like it is a fairly typical "underdog" story which will probably end with the jockey pulling the big career win out in the clutch. The reality is that the jockey will end the film on a hospital gurney, and the small stage on which he was competing offers no real glory or fame even for those that win. The film works with this well, and the delivery is not so much about the push for a big win, but rather something closer to identity and the fear of losing that core of who the lead character is. He is a jockey and there is a meditative feeling throughout the film that deciding to stop risks losing that which makes him him.
The concluding scenes of the film sum this up very well (the lead character doesn't finish his sentence about why he needs to go on – but the other person doesn't need him to). Along the way it has a loose approach which is immersive in atmosphere even if it is loose in narrative content. The end result is convincing in the way it captures and explores the character – having the good sense to remain intangible while still pointing to something.
