Barely dead: the saga of modern rollerblading (Justin Eisinger, 2007): USA

This documentary of rollerbladers creates a dying sport that’s been dead since the 90’s. I don’t know who approved this for the festival it really was horrific and had to watch it in the smallest cinema of Santa Barbara, Center Stage. In this documentary it’s still very much alive among modern youths, despite the corporate back lash of exposure for rollerbladers through the X-Games.

The cast includes amature aggressive in-line skaters as well as professionals that provide choppy editing with a dramatic black and white stunt scenes as well as flashing into color that provides a edgy portrait of talented rollerbladers. The over-exposed photographs at the end of some stunts from the documentary, provide a underlying factor that the rollerbladers have taken this sport as a way of life and have been “over-exposed” to this lifestyle. The rest of the editing looked really 1990’s and half-baked.

The creator’s of the rollerblading ‘film’, Hoax that was mentioned by the creators of a certain rollerblade skateline to the extent of not really being a film at all, which is why they called it, Hoax. The significance in that film was just as significant as the documentary, none.

This documentary was also shown at the UK free sports festival. Amazingly there was an award won for this documentary which was, Film of the year 2005 through Black Market. The director, Justin Eisinger creates an introduction of each skater along with stunts performed by the aggressive in-line skaters as well as project the fact of complications that go corporate.The development of unity among these prideful rollerbladers comes together as a suburban sport.

I thought the in-line rollerbladers were the only convincing factor of the whole documentary and their attitude toward the sport was real and their talent should be recognized, it’s a shame that it’s not as mainstream as it use to be back in the 1990’s. I really respected how much the aggressive in-line skaters put so many years of practice for all the stunts that they performed, I just wish that the editors would have put more effort into the documentary.