Though, called a non-fiction feature by
it's producer, "Endurance" is loosely a documentary
on Haile Gebrselassie ... Ethiopia's Olympic gold
winner and one of the world's greatest distance
runners.
Yonas Zergaw (Haile's real life nephew) plays the
young Haile, growing up on a ranching farm in
Ethiopia. The eighth of ten children, the young Haile
must run six miles to school and still get home in
time to milk the cows and harvest the wheat. Some of
Haile's real life family are present in the film
(though at times standing in for younger or dead
relatives). Their recreations are surprisingly
genuine.
"Endurance" spares us the intrusion of a narrator,
preferring to let the simple images tell the story in
their own time. The music ... wonderfully wide open
and rich (like the landscape) in the beginning, thins
out during the breadth of the distance. It embraces
elements of the indigenous music, but certainly not
exclusively.
This sweetly simple and honest documentary,
shouldn't be confused with a feature film; but
crossing the finish line, Haile's sincerity, will no
doubt choke up a tear in your eye.
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