Stephan James stars as Jessse Owens in Race.

Race
Director: Stephen Hopkins
Stars: Stephan James, Jason Sudeikis, Carice van Houten
Duration: 108 mins
Class: 15
KRS Film Releasing Ltd

Race tells the story of the astonishing achievements of athlete Jesse Owens, who, against the backdrop of Adolf Hitler’s inexorable rise to power and infamy, fights off racial prejudice and his own domestic issues to ultimately triumph over adversity and become a legend whose fire still burns brightly.

Directed by Stephen Hopkins, Race focuses on the two or so years between Jesse’s arrival at Ohio State University and his ultimate triumph in Berlin. It is a story certainly worth telling and it is really rather surprising that it took so long to get to the big screen.

Born James Cleveland Owens (it is said that ‘Jesse’ came about when a teacher at his school misheard ‘J.C.’ as Jesse and the name stuck) in 1912, Owens (Stephan James) was a student and athlete in 1930s America. His prowess on the track earned him a scholarship at Ohio State University, where he is taken under the wing of coach Larry Snyder (Jason Sudeikis), who sees in his new charge an Olympic winner.

The Americans’ participation in the 1936 Olympics is under threat, however, as the US Olympic Committee, personified by noble committee president Jeremiah Mahoney (William Hurt) and shady millionaire industrialist Avery Brundage (Jeremy Irons), debates the team’s participation in the games in the light of Hitler’s alarming policies in Germany. Yet once the US agree to participate, for Owens, success and fame are there for the taking.

There is no denying Owens’ impact on the world of sports and, indeed, on humankind, what with his inspiring four gold medal haul at the Games, and with it, his defiant two-fingered salute (to put it crudely) to the man who was to go on to commit some of the worst atrocities known to history.

The film boasts solid performances throughout

While this biopic celebrates his achievements it does so in a rather unassuming way which invokes in the audience quiet, reverent applause rather than enthusiastic jumping-from-seat or pumping fist jubilantly in the air.

It may have been a conscious choice on behalf of the filmmakers to honour the man reverently rather than passionately. Owens is portrayed as a quiet, self-effacing person who without much fuss took on this enormous responsibility and delivered on all fronts, and the film adopts this same quite, calm tone.

That said, there are many powerful moments peppered throughout. All Owens wants to do is race, yet the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP) put pressure on him to boycott the Games in order to send a message to the world regarding Adolf Hitler’s policies toward black people while his coach urges him to be there. When finally he first enters in the Olympic stadium and he – and we the audiences – takes in the momentousness of it all, it packs a powerful punch, as do his triumphant moments on track.

Moreover, the realisation towards the end that the ugly racism that plagued his life was still alive and well despite his priceless achievements makes for sad and sobering thought. Yet despite these superlative moments the overall subdued approach robs the film of some emotional and dramatic impact, which is what Owens deserves.

Race boasts solid performances throughout, from James who makes for an effective and engaging protagonist, sensitive in life as he weighs his choices and negotiates the often difficult relationship with Ruth Solomon (Shanice Banton), the mother of his young child and extremely powerful on the track.

Jason Sudeikis is highly sympathetic in a rare but very good dramatic role as the college coach who pushed Owens to the limit, and fought for him, both on and off the track.

Barnaby Metschurat as Josef Goebbels says little, but he cuts an imposing and frightening figure, while Carice van Houten makes for a surprisingly sympathetic Leni Riefenstahl, Hitler’s propagandist filmmaker.