The Fall

Name: The Fall
Director: Daniel Gordon
Genre: Documentary, History, Sport
Released: 2016
Duration: 1 h 35 min
Cast: Mary Slaney, Zola Pieterse, Brooks Johnson, Richard Slaney, Ruth Wysocki

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Documentary
History

2016
Daniel Gordon
95 mins
12A

Summary

Documentary exploring the controversial sporting moment when South African barefoot runner Zola Budd and American track and field athlete Mary Decker raced at the 1984 Olympics, as the pair meet for the first time since the encounter

IMDB

Review

A star rating of 4 out of 5.

Terry Payne

You forget just how vulnerable, just how bewildered South African teenager Zola Budd was when she arrived in the UK clutching a gleaming new fast-tracked British passport to compete under our flag at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. Vulnerable, bewildered and exploited. Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, her heroine Mary Decker was trying her best to avoid all the hype that was building around their meeting in the inaugural 3000m for women. Many will remember the calamitous outcome, but what this brilliantly executed and compelling documentary does is not just bring the two athletes back together for the first time since that fateful August day, but also look at the rubble-strewn route these precocious talents took to get to the starting line. The filmed reconciliation is a joyful one, but as Budd acknowledges, the legacy of the race has lasted a lifetime. "I don't think either of us had a fair chance of ever achieving what we wanted to do."

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7.7/10

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Credits

Cast

rolenameMary SlaneyMary SlaneyZola PieterseZola PieterseBrooks JohnsonBrooks JohnsonRichard SlaneyRichard SlaneyRuth WysockiRuth WysockiSam RamsamySam RamsamyNeil WilsonNeil Wilson (2)