"The Other Dream Team", basketball and freedom

The Other Dream Team

Indie music, movies, literature... but there's a fourth passion of mine that I have never written about on this blog: basketball. I'm a devoted fan of this sport since I was a little kid. NBA (way less now), European and national basketball. I can almost watch and enjoy any kind of basketball game. And aside from Barça, my other favourite team will always be the Lithuanian National team. If I name my all-time three favourite players, Arturas Karnisovas, Sarunas Jasikevicius and Arvydas Sabonis, I think what I want to say is quite obvious. "The Other Dream Team" had all the ingredients to be a very special film for me.

What I had no idea was that this documentary was going to be so rewarding and absorbing. "The Other Dream Team" is a surprisingly powerful look into what means basketball for Lithuania, what role this sport had in the country's fight for its Independence from the USSR, and how its (arguably?) best basketball generation lived and struggled under the previous regime to then became symbols and most recognisable faces of the new, free Lithuania.

Director Marius A. Markevicius took the conventional approach with little, if not zero, flashy or original structure, just archive footage combined with the opinions of the people interviewed. But please don't understand this as a criticism. Markevicius knows he has an incredible, true story to show here, and who's better to tell it than the people who were part of it? That's what matters, after all.

And what story this is. For basketball fans like me, to listen & see myths like Arvydas Sabonis, Sarunas Marciulionis, Valdemaras Homicius and Rimas Kurtinaitis, is just precious (also add Vladas Garastas, Bill Walton, Chris Mullin, and Arturas Karnisovas, yes!!!, among others). But their opinions are not meaningful just for basketball fans. No, they are even more relevant because they show the human beings behind the stars.

The legendary players talk openly about their extremely humble beginnings and what their family suffered with the Soviet Union's invasion. They show how tough and conflicting times (Marciulionis' face when talking about his speech says it all) they had representing the USSR national team in the 80s, beating the USA on the Seoul Olympics, while at the national league the fights between Zalgiris Kaunas and CSKA Moscow were more than just games. How their careers were on the verge of collapsing due to the Soviet barriers against their players going overseas. And of course how they lived the revolt and freedom of their country, finally representing, and winning bronze medal at Barcelona 1992 Olympics, beating the Unified team on the final match. They gave the reborn Lithuania an outstanding athletic achievement that served to commemorate their independence worldwide. Yes that tournament will be always remembered as the one that gathered the most impressive basketball team ever: the USA's Dream Team. But it should be remembered too for the unbelievable triumph of the Lithuanian team, and for what it represented for a whole nation in such a crucial moment of its history. Besides, the funny note of the film, this was the most improbable, cool and music related basket squad ever, thanks to The Grateful Dead (no spoiling).

Lithuania is a country that breathes basketball, the only European country I know where football (maybe Slovenia too?) is not number one sport (please resist that way). Thanks to this documentary I understand some of the reasons why. This sport gave them strength and a distraction to keep surviving while they were living under an extremely long dictatorial regime, and gave them inspiration and pride to finally free themselves. The filmmakers brilliantly understood that behind this feel-good-sports tale there was a highly interesting political/historical story to explain, not shy of including also the opinions and views of Lithuanian political leaders (even to an arguably excess, would have been interesting to count with "the other side" perspective). Seeing and hearing what the Lithuanian players went through we realise what every citizen was suffering, understanding why basketball means so much for this little country. The parallel story of Jonas Valanciunas towards his inclusion of 2011 NBA draft completes the picture with grace.

A moving, very special film. For basketball and non-basketball fans. 

SCORE: 8,25/10

"The Music Never Stopped", the songs in our heads

The Music Never Stopped

A surprising, uplifting and very touching film, particularly recommended to everyone that has music as one of the main pillars of their life. "The Music Never Stopped" mixes a familiar drama with the power of the songs that will be with us forever, and the memories, the moments, associated with them. Music lovers, this one is for you.

The film, based on the case study "The Last Hippie" by Dr. Oliver Sacks (will look for it), brings to table an experimental treatment through music for a young man, Gabriel affected by a tumour that has damaged his brain, incapable of forming new memories. With the extremely interesting "excuse" of the therapy, director Jim Kohlberg builds an absorbing familiar story, real argument of the film.

As a son that owes a lot of his passion for music to his father, and someone who grew looking hypnotized records sleeves and struck by the power of many tunes he had in his collection, and by the stories behind them, "The Music Never Stopped", really got me. This film is a tale in which Henry, played extraordinarily by J.K. Simmons, tries to reconnect with his son, a broken relationship in a double dimension: due to his illness, but previously because their differences once he grew up. The opportunity for Henry appears through the songs his son adored, a bunch of classic bands like The Grateful Dead, Bob Dylan or The Beatles. The records and bands Henry blamed because, in his opinion, stole his son from him, might be their last chance to communicate with Gabriel, played with subtlety and conviction by Lou Taylor Pucci, without affectations or mannerisms.

I don't want to criticise a film that reached an intimate part of me, but I do have to mention a couple of things to make a fair review. First, there are some brutal ellipsis within its length, transitions are quite rough from scene to scene. Yes, it does make the film quite dynamic and with rhythm being a drama, but the lack of explanations, at times, damages its verisimilitude. And second, an this personally hurts, it can escape from looking/smelling a bit like a TV movie a couple of times (in particular the ones with Julia Ormond, who plays the role of Dianne Daley, Gabriel's therapist, or some of the flashbacks scenes).

But to hell with that. The truth is that I loved the film, I adored how well reflected is the music obsession father and son share, and how they can discuss about song meanings, how they test each other and learn from each other. The whole idea of connecting again, understand each other through music exudes passion and honesty, and brought me back to very special music-related memories: the magic emotion of being with my father at my first concert (Neil Finn, seems ages ago) or the moment I found he had bought R.E.M.'s "Out of Time", one of the favourite records of his son then. Oh, I'm getting emotional again. Thanks for that "The Music Never Stopped". Thanks music.

SCORE: 7,25/10