Battle Mountain: Graeme Obree's Story (2015)

Battle Mountain: Graeme Obree’s Story: Directed by Dave Street. With Chris Hoy, Charlie Milarvie, Euan Obree, Graeme Obree. Addicted to breaking records, this former world champion puts his mind and body on the line one last time. 20 years after his last world record he is in the American desert looking for purpose and salvation on a speed machine he built in his Scottish kitchen. Will his ageing body and fragile psyche cope with the pressure he will find on Nevada’s State Route 305? Renowned for building his own record breaking bikes in the 1990’s, will his revolutionary new design get him over the line in the International Human Powered World championships taking place in Battle Mountain, Nevada. Since his last world record he has faced and survived many challenges in his personal life. The father of two sons in their twenties he is now happy to have discovered his own sexuality, after many years of turmoil. This is a warm and entertaining observational documentary. Filmed over two years, it follows Graeme Obree as he designs and builds “The Beastie” through the testing and his training until he gets to America. His sense of fun and humour is never far away and often comes through in the darkest moments.

“I went to this screening of Battle Mountain expecting a film that would appeal to a niche market. Luckily itu0026#39;s quite a big niche, and the cinema was filled with fellow cyclists in an optimistic testament to how the sport has blossomed in the UK. But I left thinking that – with just a small consideration – it could easily find a wider market. The filmmaker, David Street, has produced an unexpectedly cinematic vision of a man on a home-made bicycle, and thereu0026#39;s great pleasure to be had in watching Obreeu0026#39;s quirky engineering choices (including rollerblades, a sideboard and a saucepan) and his infectious enthusiasm for a new cycling challenge.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWhere the film falls just short is in assuming that its audience has prior knowledge of Obreeu0026#39;s frankly incredible history in the sport of cycling. While it is covered, itu0026#39;s not covered in a way that would allow anyone but an enthusiast to really appreciate his journey. To enjoy any achievement, we need to understand its historical context. For instance, while it is the core of his story, the iconic Hour record is never explained, and so Obreeu0026#39;s feat in breaking it on a home-made machine is so diminished that it may offer only passing interest to the unconverted, instead of astonishment. And for a film like this to find a wider audience it HAS to convert! There are moments like this throughout the film, where the emotional impact could have been exponentially heightened by the brief use of voice-over to explain WHY Obreeu0026#39;s achievements have been so gobsmacking. Without those contextual pointers, his (literal) kitchen-sink struggle to push yet another cycling envelope is interesting and well made, but ultimately a little sterile. Thatu0026#39;s a shame when the man himself burns with passion for the subject and is an engaging on-screen presence.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThereu0026#39;s always a fine line to be trod between patronising a knowledgeable audience, and under-informing an ignorant one. For me, Battle Mountain errs just on the side of the latter. Itu0026#39;s admirable that it was made at all (with the help of Kickstarter) but without some context for emotional guidance, I fear it will remain of interest to a far smaller audience than it probably deserves.”