Johan Museeuw in A Throw of the Dice
British cycling clothing manufacturer Rapha has teamed up with Ridley Scott Associates (think Bladerunner and other visually sumptuous productions) to produce a series of three cycling films. The films will each air on the Rapha Web site for one Friday only, with the first, A Throw of the Dice, broadcasting today.
A Throw of the Dice is a reflection on Johan Museeuw, the “Lion of Flanders,” and his epic battles – and serious battle wounds suffered – at Paris Roubaix. The film certainly has its non-linear and experimental elements, making it more along the lines of La Course en Tête than, for example, American Flyers.
See the film’s trailer below, and watch the full film, on August 13th only, here.
From Director, Nick Livesey:
Historically, ‘The Hell of the North’ was not referring to the sheer pain and torment the cyclists of the Paris-Roubaix must endure to complete the 275km race. It was a newspaper caption describing the landscape when the race was resumed after WW1 – charred forests, open sewers – a completely decimated and blackened horizon.
Run your fingers through the topsoil in that region of Northern France and you are likely to find shrapnel and splintered bones. The race has been shaped by history, and as I discovered so too was Johan Museeuw’s brush with fate in the Forest of Arenberg.
The only way to define Museeuw’s true ‘North’ was to meet him in the ancient forest. From there the trajectory of the back story was formed, and thus began the filming process.
A Throw of the Dice Trailer:
Two Broad Arrows, a film about Sean Kelly’s path to the bike, broadcasts for 24 hours on August 20th and Of Steel, a profile of famed Italian frame maker Dario Pegoretti, airs on August 27th.
