July 13 2014 marked the 35th anniversary of the seminal ‘cycling film’ Breaking Away. 35 years. Nothing stays popular for that long, right? Things get dated, lose their edge (if there was edge in the first place) and eventually become irrelevant (I’m looking at you, Rolling Stones). Yes, even legends get stale if left out too long.
On paper, Breaking Away has all the potential to join the ranks of the forgotten, the antiquated and embarrassing. But somehow, it keeps delivering not only entertainment but a real and honest story about real and honest characters. They’re like old friends who’ve been away for years but keep popping up every once in a while, and haven’t changed a bit.
I got to meet up with old friends both real and on screen in the last few weeks when I headed back to my native country and the town I grew up in. It was like a trip back in time, most of it spent re-living the things we used to do by doing them again. Watching films was one of the ways we conjured morsels from our aging memories, a bit of Mad Max here, some Monty Python there. And Breaking Away.
I don’t remember how it came up (that aging memory letting me down again), but in a flash the impulsive son-of-a-gun who is the K-Man had the torrents fired up and Mike’s familiar singing voice was wafting through the speakers. “In the parking lot, at the A & P…” Now, sharing your tastes with others, whether it’s film, music or food is oftentimes fraught with risk, sometimes outright danger. And while K-Man and I share a lot of common ground, there’s always bound to be things that polarises one or both. I was sure that we wouldn’t even get to witness Dave meet Katerina. I was trying to gauge the reactions, but I was too engrossed, for the umpteenth time, by the magic of the characters and storyline.
[dmalbum path=”/velominati.com/content/Photo Galleries/brettok@velominati.com/Breaking Away/”/]
Not only did we make it past the serenading, the Italians and Mooch punching various objects and people before I had to leave, but upon return I was less surprised than anticipated to learn that K-Man had made it all the way to the end, and actually enjoyed it (I know this because I put him to an impromptu quiz on details of the Little 5oo).
Breaking Away still resonates with me as it did when I wrote this article back in 2009, and no doubt will continue to do so well beyond the day my memory can no longer locate my keys.
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Ciao Papa!
That movie and this community encapsulate everything I love about cycling. @brett, the accompanying drawings are great. I hadn't seen those before.
Ooof, the scene where he gets a frame pump shoved into the spokes makes me wince even thinking about it.
@RedRanger
"I'm not your papa I'm your God-damned father"
At the risk of being branded a heretic,what makes "Breaking Away" a good movie isn't that it's a movie about cycling, it's a coming-of-age movie that happens to use cycling as a plot device, so it has a much broader appeal. Compare it to "American Flyers" (ironically by the same screenwrite) which tried to make cycling the central focus and ended up almost a prody of itself.
Having said that, Breaking Away is almost solely responsible for getting me into cycling; seeing it as part of a high school English class, when I was but a skinny youth totally unsuited for and uninterested in the dominant ball sports everyone else around me was into, finding something I could claim as my own (I actually revelled in being that weird kid with the shaved legs; if people think you're eccentric you can get away with so much more...) made a lifetime difference to me.
@DavidI
Spot on about the movie themes. It was jr. high for me, when my last failed attempt at organized sports and the influence of "Breaking Away" and LeMan coincided.
"What's your major?"
It's a damned good story about important things like growing the fuck up and being the person you want to be in the context of changing geographic and economic realities. And riding a fucking bike.
@Optimiste
They're fantastic eh. Check out more of Steve's work here...
http://velopaintgallery.blogspot.co.nz/
@DavidI
Spot on, I think I said similar in the original article. The scenes that resonate with me aren't especially the cycling but the comradeship of the guys, Dave's family interactions and the travails of growing up.
@Owen argh. even reading about the frame through the spokes makes me wince.
Awesome movie. Watched it again earlier this year for the first time in years, still holds up well. Few things from that era do.
preach the truth. i believe 'barber of seville' is playing & i still get goosebumps thinking about dave turning himself inside out just to re-join the italians after getting dropped the 1st time. as the peleton heads out of town, they just miss that black dog that wanders across the road!
the proud father wondering what in the world is wrong w/ his teenage son. the proud mother who keeps a passport in her purse for no other reason other than to show it at the grocery store when she writes a check.
should be required viewing!