[Program title]Chic, le sport ! I - L’enfance à grand galop
[Film title] Lads & Jockeys
[Date] 2013.1.5 – 1.27
[Screen time] 99 min.
[Place] Maison Hermès 10F 5-4-1, Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0061
2008 / France / 99 min / Color / 35mm
Director: Benjamin Marquet
Producer: Daniel Marquet
Cinematography: Sébastien Buchmann, Laurent Chalet, Benjamin Marquet
Cast: Steve Le Guern, Florian Basquet, Flavien Masse, Yutaka Take
Subtitle: Yukiko Furuta
Distributor: CULTURE PUBLISHERS
“I want to be a jockey! It’s the job I’ve always dreamed of doing!”
A horse-racing school in France trains young teenagers to become specialists. The pupils leave their families behind to board at the school where they strive desperately to become star jockeys. It is a harsh world in which horses come before people. Although the power and sensitivity of their mounts may inspire fear and awe, the young boarders grow and mature along with the horses. One pupil demonstrates his aptitude, another begins to doubt his dream, and yet another falls behind his peers, despite loving horses just as passionately as the others… Although every student aspires to ride in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, one of the world’s most prestigious horse races, only a handful will become jockeys.
This film, which also features internationally renowned jockey Yutaka Take, is a refreshing documentary that follows a group of young teenagers as they confront various tests in life. Cinematographer Laurent Chalet (March of the Penguins) captures the vigor and strength of the sensitive thoroughbreds.