Downhill Racer

SPOILER ALERT! The plot will be discussed.

As I have done before, I am addressing a film that was viewed and discussed in one of my Bryn Mawr Film Institute courses. We recently analyzed the 1969 movie, Downhill Racer. This film is a character study of a man who has self-esteem issues because of where he comes from and his distant relationship with his father. He compensates, although most likely unconsciously, by aspiring to be an Olympic skier. The story explores what it takes to win in athletic competition, and in the case of the main character, the consequences of the path he has chosen. The cinematography in the film many times is shot at the skiers’ level, and we really get a feel for the speed and danger involved in the sport, which is accentuated by the sound of the skis on the snow and ice. 

The first shot in the film is of the summits of mountains. In Greek mythology, the gods lived on Mt. Olympus, which is, of course, where the Olympics acquired its name. But people do not reside there. We see a cable bringing humans to the top of the slopes so they can ski. It is not their home, but the participants in the Olympics become godlike among humans if they can excel at athletics. Chappellet (Robert Redford) looks at those mountains, wanting to be famous, as he later says, by winning the downhill event. But his incentive in the present derives from his past. It is ironic that in order to ascend Olympian heights he has chosen a sport that makes him descend the mountain, back to where mere mortals live.

Chappellet is an excellent downhill skier, but he is new to the American team, which means he ranks low in any privileges. However, he is angry that he wasn’t placed to do his run earlier in the qualifying competition. He comes off rather humorless and self-absorbed. He tells the coach, Claire (Gene Hackman), that he can’t show how good he is if he doesn’t ski before the other men who will create poor conditions by going before him. He doesn’t want to pay his dues and doesn’t seem to understand that he doesn’t show his real skill if he can’t ski under unfavorable conditions. His desire for speed on the course is mirrored by how quickly he wants to succeed.

This film does not have a great deal of dialogue, but instead mostly suggests what comprises Chappellet’s character by a few lines and mostly through images. We can see that he is a loner as he rarely associates with the other team members. When he first meets Claire while checking into the hotel, the other skiers are in a circle talking and smiling, while Chappellet stands alone. He has a roommate only because he is assigned one. Chappellet finds out the man attended prestigious Dartmouth College, which suggests the roommate comes from wealth and privilege. Chappellet just repeats the college’s name to himself as if he expected that kind of background for his roommate. So, we know that Chappellet is not a member of the upper class. We get more evidence of his social inferiority when he awkwardly tries to get a drink of water from the bathroom sink’s extended spout. He keeps staring with a puzzled expression at the bidet. When his roommate asks if he knows what it is, Chappellet says he does, not willing to expose his ignorance.

Chappellet starts out skiing well, but then wipes out on one of his attempts. He makes excuses for his failure, but Claire will have none of it and cuts him short. He tells Chappellet that he just wasn’t strong enough and will have to go home and work at being better before the next competition. Chappellet returns to his tiny hometown in Colorado. It is here that we see what drives him. His father (Walter Stroud) is mending a fence on his ranch, a practical activity. The existence here is spartan, so his dad only cares about the essentials of survival. Chappellet wants to impress his father by noting the European countries he has visited and that he is doing well in his sport. He says, “I’ll be famous. I’ll be a champion.” The father is unfazed, saying, “World’s full of ‘em.” He does not value anything that does not immediately bring in a living, which he says is the attitude of the community when they ask what his son does. Chappellet gets a drink of water and doesn’t like the way it tastes. The father says it has gone bad, as opposed to the water Chappellet drank in Europe. The poor water implies that there is no sustenance for Chappellet here. 

The next day he asks if his dad wants to take a ride in his father’s 1957 Chevy and get a drink with him. The father says no, but notes the keys are in the car, which is what his son wanted anyway, he says. Chappellet does not hesitate, gets in the car and guns it away from the ranch. Was he sincere in wanting to share a beer with his dad? Or, did he know he wouldn’t accept, and was just being polite. His desire for speed may come from his wish to get away from his father’s home. It seems significant that there is no mother present to provide an alternative to his father’s cold ways.

Chappellet drives into what looks like the only main road in the small town. He sees Lena (Carole Carle), the girl he dated. She comes over to the car when he calls her. His handsome looks and his being a success by this town’s standards make him a large fish in a small pond, as one class member stated. She gently chastises him for not telling her when he was leaving for the racing trials. He is not contrite. They drive off to a secluded area and have sex. When she tries to tell him what’s going on in her life, he is oblivious to what she says. The only comment he makes is that he asks for some chewing gum. As class members pointed out, he uses gum in other scenes which may be part of an athletic ritual, but might also denote a lower-class habit. Another classmate said that Chappellet can make love, but doesn’t know how to love, which points to his self-involvement, since he is driven by his need to win to show his worth to others who have a higher social status.

His tendency to be an outsider is shown by the many times when the other team members are socializing and Chappellet is not with them. Or, when he enters a restaurant where his colleagues are eating but sits with his back to them. At a dinner he stares at a beautiful woman, Carole (Camilla Sparv), and rudely leaves his teammates. He wants to make a play for the attractive female, but goes to the bathroom first, again to get a drink of water which symbolizes his need to strengthen his courage to approach the elegant lady. However, he is not able to connect with her at this moment. 

Carole works for a man who says he doesn't want to infringe on the athletes' amateur status, but wants them to use his skis as he tries to get free advertising. Of course, if one does become a champion, monetary gain will come through product endorsements. Claire tries to get more funding from businesses when he notes that there is not enough money for American Olympic teams. His pitch is that, “Every racer on a well-equipped winning team is a foreign sales representative for U. S. ski products. These fine young competitors that we are training are roving ambassadors for the American way of life.” He stresses that athletic competition mirrors what is great about America, which welds success in sports with capitalistic accomplishment. The film seems to suggest that competition brings out excellence in people, but it can also break those who don’t reach the finish line first, in sports, and in the area of economics.

Chappellet does meet Carole later in a bakery. He is awkward when it comes to words, as he previously didn’t want to say anything to his old girlfriend. Here, the woman offers him a piece of pastry. He first says no, but then recovers, probably realizing he faltered at expressing the social requirement to be gracious about a gift. He loves her Porsche, not only because it represents financial success, but he values it’s speed. She lets him drive it, and he races dangerously through the European roads. His driving of the sports car mirrors how fast he wanted to get away from his father, and may also show why he values a sport that extols speed. Of course, it is also exhilarating, and that is something he did not get back home on the ranch.

The two become lovers. But, he is jealous of her boss, not wanting to be beaten by someone who is more successful than he. She does not show up to meet him when he has some time off around Christmas. So, Chappellet is alone on a holiday that emphasizes being with friends and family. He sees Carole at a party later. She casually says she spent time with her family during the holidays. She takes him out to the car and gives him a present, a pair of gloves, which for him is a poor consolation prize. He is hurt, and as she goes on about her family, he honks the car’s horn, drowning her out. She is angry and leaves him there. She treats him the way he treated his girlfriend back home, using him, as he used Lena, for her own purposes. Her actions are a sort of punishment for his uncaring behavior. But, he may also be jealous of her happy family life, which is the opposite of his experience, and he just didn’t want to listen to her joy.

 Chappellet, again wanting to prove his value, dares the skiing team’s lead athlete, Creech (Jim McMullen), to a race to see who would get to the finish line first. But, he is in competition with his own colleague instead of those from other countries. He wins, but Creech goes into an embankment. He doesn’t get hurt this time, but it is a foreshadowing of what happens later. Based on this incident, Claire tells Chappellet he acts recklessly, even to the point of not looking out for his teammates. He lectures Chappellet, saying, “You never had any real education, did you? All you ever had were your skis, and that’s not enough.” Claire emphasizing Chappellet’s not being a socially rounded individual goes to the heat of Chappellet’s insecurity. Later, Creech is talking with another skier, Mayo (Dabney Coleman), noting that Chappellet is not a team player. Mayo says that skiing is not really a team sport like many others. His statement fits with why Chappellet may have chosen it as his athletic endeavor. Not only were the mountains close by where he lived, but Chappellet does not seem to be at home anywhere but by himself on the slopes, racing away from his past life. 

At the Olympics, Creech takes a fall, and this time hurts his leg, and can’t compete. Chappellet becomes the United States’ lead man. When asked by reporters what he will do after the competition, all he can say is, “This is it,” which he repeats. One of our class members noted that for Chappellet, nothing else matters. He must win to prove to others and himself that his life has some importance. 

Chappellet beats the German leader’s time. It appears he will win the gold medal. However, the next skier is moving down the slope faster than Chappellet, and apprehension grows for Claire and Chappellet. But, the skier falls, and Chappellet comes in first. When the opposing skier gets to the finish line the two exchange looks. Just one move is the difference between winning and losing. The two could easily have exchanged places. But this world has decreed that for one to be victorious, another must be defeated.

The next film is The Iron Lady.