Breaking Away (1979)

[Christian]

I came across this movie while watching an episode of Modern Family, looked it up and found a link to watch it online (if you want I can send it to you by PM, but it's pretty easy to find on google).

If you're not familiar with the story, here is the plot:

Dave (Dennis Christopher), Mike (Dennis Quaid), Cyril (Daniel Stern) and Moocher (Jackie Earle Haley) are four working-class friends, living in a college town, who have recently graduated from high school and are forced to confront their uncertain futures. Dave's father, Ray (Paul Dooley), is puzzled and exasperated by his son's love of Italian music and culture, which Dave associates with bicycling. However, his mother Evelyn (Barbara Barrie) is more understanding.

When a professional Italian bicycling team comes to town for a race, Dave is thrilled to enter the race with the other locals competing with them. After a disappointing finish, Dave's friends persuade him to join in forming their own cycling team for the annual Indiana University Little 500 race.

(Wikipedia)

I found it really funny to be honest, because it's so over-the-top cheesy at times. So many great quotes, I'll have to watch it again and write some of them down. One I remember is: "I want American food, dammit! I want french fries!"
Of course the Italians from the pro team turned out to be d*cks, that was hilarious.

I had never heard of this movie, and I was really surprised to find out someone actually made a movie about cycling in the 1970's. I mean movies about cycling are pretty rare to begin with (if you consider how many baseball, basketball, European/US football movies there are), but then one that was made in Indiana in the 1970's ... so I thought it must be pretty unknown. Turns out it was pretty successful: it even won an Academy Award and a Golden Globe and is ranked 8th on the List of America's 100 Most Inspiring Movies.

I really wouldn't go so far as to call this movie inspiring, but I still thought it was pretty good. It starts off pretty slowly and I found the whole Italian thing with the music and the "Buongiorno Papa!" rather annoying. But then as it goes on the characters develop and you discover some deeper themes behind the main story.

Still, overall I found it rather cliché and ordinary. The characters are nice, but I feel like I've seen them in countless movies before - especially the dad and Mike, the former quarterback. The only thing that really sets it apart is the fact that it's about cycling in Indiana in the 1970's. It appears to be partially based on real events though:

The Little 500 bicycle race that forms the centerpiece of the plot is a real race held annually at Indiana University. A reenactment of the race was staged for the film in the "old" Memorial Stadium on the IU campus, which was demolished shortly after the filming of the movie.

The team is based on the 1962 Phi Kappa Psi Little 500 champions, which featured legendary rider and Italian enthusiast Dave Blase, who provided screenwriter and fellow Phi Kappa Psi team member Steve Tesich the inspiration for the main character in the movie. Blase, together with team manager Bob Stohler, provided the name of this character: Dave Stohler. In the 1962 race, Blase rode 139 out of 200 laps and was the victory rider crossing the finish line, much like the main character in the film. Blase himself appears in the movie as the race announcer.

Anyone else seen the movie? What did you think of it? What are your favourite quotes ?!

I highly recommend it if you have 1 and a half hours to kill and want to see a nice old movie and have a good laugh.

/edit: I found this site which provides a nice history of the race and also of Dave Blase, who inspired the main character of the movie. It seems he was rather shy and reclusive and formed an Italian alter ego for himself. Here is a picture of him:

(he's the one with the sunglasses)

 

[mewmewmew13]

Hey Christian
Glad to see that you have discovered one of the all-time classic cycling movies! I think it's really a good movie. Lots of great characters in there...a good storyline and excellent scenes.

Did you know there is a member on this forum with the name dave_stoller? ...now you know where the name came from! (I think...lol unless it is his/her real name!)

An interesting comment from my 11 year old son when he watched it (btw he also enjoyed it)...he noticed that the buzzing sounds of the bikes racing seemed to echo the sounds of the stone-cutting saws of the real cutters...
I could go on and on because I am an old cinema freak...
cheers,
mew

 

[Christian]

he noticed that the buzzing sounds of the bikes racing seemed to echo the sounds of the stone-cutting saws of the real cutters...

Wow you have quite the insightful 11 year-old there! I noticed the distinct buzzing of the bikes but to be quite honest I didn't realize until just now why they called them "cutters"

 

[ustabe]

We've probably been around with this movie a few times (since the web was invented, not since the movie), but I'm glad you brought it back. My favorite scene, I think, was Mooch punching the time clock--"And don't forget to punch the clock on your way out!"

 

[ustabe]

No it's Dave's dad riding his new ten-speed and doing the double-take when his kid calls out, "Bonjour, Papa!"

 

[PCutter]

You may have thought it a bit cheesy, but Breaking Away actually won the Academy award for best original screenplay that year - believe it or not. And Saxo last year (I think it was last year) rode Red Specialized frames to commemorate the bike in the film. Or more likely, give the marketing guys something to do.

The writer followed up with a film called American Flyer, with Kevin Costner and Rae Dawn Chong so maybe you should check that out, or try and find it on the net. Its even more cheesy as the plot includes the 'dying wish' theme. And once you've clocked that cheese-fest you can go via 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon to Quicksilver, staring, Kevin Bacon, which is about a NY bike delivery guy. To get your Fixie fix. Not as cheesy as American Flyer, but a pretty bad film none-the-less.

 

[mewmewmew13]

Ha, thanx...Yes Christian, I have two sons, 15 and 11 , and they do keep me on my toes. After years of dragging home old B & W movies both are fairly sophisticated w/r to the classics they have seen! On the buzzing sound...I had never connected on that before either. lol

I love the racing scene where the Cutters team keeps switching off and passing laps on the old bike, and at one point ---I can't remember his name, the goofy guy---comes around a second time and yells 'help' as no one grabs the bike from him...lots of laughs.
And the visiting Italians couldn't be more evil...

American Flyers just couldn't match this , but yes, cheesy and still about cycling...
cheers

 

[MD FACG FACP]

That cat's name is JAKE !

 

[mewmewmew13]

Ah, yes! thank you..

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

My favorite movie ever! Well, when I was 19 I mean. Still, I own it, and have seen it five or so times. Watched it last year and I still really like it. It may seem cliché at times, but a lot of other films copied it's "coming of age" style in many characters.

Steve Tesich wrote Breaking Away, and American Flyers, yes. He went to the University of Indiana and was an alternate on Dave Blase's team in the Little Indy 500. I think that's what gave the film such a genuine feel to it, and his well deserved Oscar. Sadly, he was barely 53 when he passed away.

Breaking Away was turned into a TV series in the early 1980's with Shaun Cassidy of all people, but only lasted 8 episodes, and the final one never aired. It was fairly well received, but got low ratings. These episodes are locked in a vault somewhere.

American Flyers is a different movie, and not nearly as good. It's basically a former racer (Kevin Costner!) coming back and taking his little brother to the Coors' Classic (Hell of the North in the film). There are many plot holes, and parts aren't well explained, and much of the film appears absurd to cyclists, but parts of it were shot at the actual Coors' Classic, and if you can suspend your understanding of the sport, the good kid versus bad guy racing at the end is dramatic and fun.

Producers and writers have tried to get other cycling films made through the years, but the sport is a little too small, too hard to explain the rules for the masses, too riddled with problems, and would not be easy to shoot at all (compare shooting a movie over mountain passes, versus a sport on a court or field.).

Not Hollywood/American made, but definitely worth watching is the Flying Scotsman. Though mostly a biopic about Graeme Obree, there is some racing in it too on the track (ahh, yes, easier to shoot than a film over mountain passes!).

 

[Granville57]

Yeah, that film was a big deal when it originally came out. My parents and all their friends saw it (and not one of them had any interest in, or knowledge of, cycling). It had a huge appeal across the board. It's hard to appreciate the effect of it so many years later, but it was quite the "feel good" movie at the time.

Best scene is when he is drafting the truck on the highway...at over 50mph!
If you look really close at that scene, they do show one close up on the bike and he's pedaling in the small chainring! Hollywood. Watcha gonna do?

Fun fact:
One of the villainous Italian riders was played by John Vande Velde (Christian's dad).

“And people don’t realize those four Italians on screen are 3 Belgians and a Puerto Rican, which is kind of funny. But, it was kind of cool growing up to have my dad in that film, it beats American Flyers with a stick.”

http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/?pg=fullstory&id=2742&status=

 

[Rip:30]

I have it on VHS!

 

[Rip:30]

American Flyer, with Kevin Costner

This guy.

 

[rhubroma]

Typical American "picturesque" take on Italianismo, with a strong desire to replace something fake for something real, that is the "idea" of bike racing to the uninitiated (how this idea, without experience and understanding, comes into people's heads is rather curious) as opposed to the real thing, which evidently is too boring to watch.

This was even more so in the Kevin Costner film and was how CBS initially presented the Tour in the 80's with a John Tesch soundtrack to sex it up a bit.

PS: Perhaps the best cycling film ever made was A Sunday in Hell (1976). Here you have a nice balance between dramatic narrative content with real racing footage, without being insipid or ridiculous.

 

[bhilden]

I wrote a 'Where are They Now" piece for Bicycling magazine on Breaking Away during the 20 year anniversary.

The rider who doubled for Dennis Christopher in the more serious riding scenes had a sex change operation and went from being 'Gary' to 'Karen'.

The four "Cinzano' bad guys were all accomplished bike racers. As already mentioned, John Vande Velde is Christian's dad. Eddy Van Guyse, who was the main protagonist, Carlos Sintes and Pete Lazarra rounded out the crew.

All four of the Cutters went on to have good, if not great, careers in Hollywood. Dennis Quaid was the most successful. Daniel Stern (City Slicker movies, now a director) was also pretty successful. Jack Earl Haley was in the Bad News Bears movies and is in the new Fox TV series 'Hard Target'. Dennis Christopher, the star, has been in a lot of horror type movies as well as guest starring roles in TV series such as "Law and Order."

 

[movingtarget]

Denis Quaid was the only actor out of the film to reach the top echelon. Dennis Christopher was in a few cult movies like Fade to Black and he was pretty good. The other actors have also done some interesting things.

Breaking Away was entertaining but the cycling scenes were secondary to the story. A funny film about the have's and the have nots.

The best movie I have seen featuring cyling was a French film called Le Velo. A comedy about a crazy cyling fan who joins a club and finds out how cycling really works ! Amazon used to have it. The copy I have is in French with English subtitles. The director was Phillipe Harel and it starred Benoit Poelvoorde and Jose Garcia. As someone else previously mentioned there are also some excellent docos out there.

 

[Christian]

Breaking Away was entertaining but the cycling scenes were secondary to the story.

That's basically what I thought as well. I initially thought it was a story about cycling, so I kept waiting for the racing to start, but I think the Italian race isn't until almost halfway through the movie

Other great quotes:

"Italians are poor, but they're happy."

"- Have a nice trip.
- You too.
- But I'm not going anywhere.
- I wouldn't be so sure about that ..."

"Have you ever seen the Tour de France?"
French girl: "No"

Did you live in a cave before becoming an exchange student?!!

 

[Cooper]

Decent movie.

I always thought the funniest part was when the Dad, a used car saleman, had a nervous breakdown because his son gave the frat guys a refund.

REFUND, REFUND!

 

[Autobus]

"Everybody cheats"

My favorite cycling movie is Pour Un Maillot Jaune, directed by Claude Lelouch. It's a short film about the 1965 Tour that has no dialogue. Doesn't try to explain bicycle racing or even the Tour, but really shows the atmoshere and what it was like to both race and watch it. Great film.

 

[Autobus]

Another great film by the same director as a Sunday in Hell is Stars and Watercarriers. It follows the 1973 Giro where Eddy crushes all.

My favorite scene of any cycling movie, though, is (if I remember correctly) from La Course en Tete. It shows Eddy walking upstairs to his attic and getting on his rollers. He starts riding and the pool of sweat under the bike just grows bigger and bigger until it's a lake. Classic!

 

[mewmewmew13]

wow, some very interesting posts since yesterday! Alpe, yes some of the actual footage shot @ CC...a couple of friends were in there as extras. funny.
...and the four bad Italians...I never knew that was John Vande Velde! ..I learn something every day!

bhilden, I will have to look up that article you wrote----and the double for Dennis C....'Gary' to 'Karen'...life is full of background stories isn't it?

Also, thanks for all the other film recommendations. We have a local video store that is unsurpassed for its collection of foreign and classics....I will go challenge them to find some of these for me!
cheers,
mew

 

[ItsWitz]

Living the Dream

In 1975, i was twenty, and had been Living the movie since 1969,

I always thought a sequel to breaking away would be about the mountin bikes guys .... it IS .... it's called KLUNKERZ !!!

Witz

btw; how do i post a photo without a URL ???

I came across this movie while watching an episode of Modern Family, looked it up and found a link to watch it online (if you want I can send it to you by PM, but it's pretty easy to find on google).

If you're not familiar with the story, here is the plot:



I found it really funny to be honest, because it's so over-the-top cheesy at times. So many great quotes, I'll have to watch it again and write some of them down. One I remember is: "I want American food, dammit! I want french fries!"
Of course the Italians from the pro team turned out to be d*cks, that was hilarious.

I had never heard of this movie, and I was really surprised to find out someone actually made a movie about cycling in the 1970's. I mean movies about cycling are pretty rare to begin with (if you consider how many baseball, basketball, European/US football movies there are), but then one that was made in Indiana in the 1970's ... so I thought it must be pretty unknown. Turns out it was pretty successful: it even won an Academy Award and a Golden Globe and is ranked 8th on the List of America's 100 Most Inspiring Movies.

I really wouldn't go so far as to call this movie inspiring, but I still thought it was pretty good. It starts off pretty slowly and I found the whole Italian thing with the music and the "Buongiorno Papa!" rather annoying. But then as it goes on the characters develop and you discover some deeper themes behind the main story.

Still, overall I found it rather cliché and ordinary. The characters are nice, but I feel like I've seen them in countless movies before - especially the dad and Mike, the former quarterback. The only thing that really sets it apart is the fact that it's about cycling in Indiana in the 1970's. It appears to be partially based on real events though:



Anyone else seen the movie? What did you think of it? What are your favourite quotes ?!

I highly recommend it if you have 1 and a half hours to kill and want to see a nice old movie and have a good laugh.

/edit: I found this site which provides a nice history of the race and also of Dave Blase, who inspired the main character of the movie. It seems he was rather shy and reclusive and formed an Italian alter ego for himself. Here is a picture of him:

(he's the one with the sunglasses)

 

[on3m@n@rmy]

My favorite movie ever! ...

Well, okay then. I've never seen it. But my wife likes Dennis Quaid. So maybe we'll have to see it.

 

[mewmewmew13]

In 1975, i was twenty, and had been Living the movie since 1969,

I always thought a sequel to breaking away would be about the mountin bikes guys .... it IS .... it's called KLUNKERZ !!!

Witz

btw; how do i post a photo without a URL ???

from what I have gleaned about posting pix...
add the desired pic to your albums & pictures on here. when you double click to view the photo in large view there are two link choices..copy the bottom one---(can't remember what it's called at this moment)
then you can paste into your post.

also, check out the about the forum ..'seeing and not seeing pictures'

hope it works

 

[mewmewmew13]

sorry its called the BB code
and forum thread called 'seeing and not seeing images' in About the Forum