Holy Tour (Méryl Fortunat-Rossi, Valéry Rosier, 2019): France

Reviewed by Nicholas DeBruno. Viewed at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival.

Holy Tour, Written and directed by Méryl Fortunat-Rossi and Valéry Rosier (Parasol 2015), is a French documentary focusing on the outspoken fans of the pinnacle of bike racing, the Tour De France. Some fans of the sport even go as far to camp along the route weeks before the race even starts. This film follows a group of such super fans that make the yearly pilgrimage together in hopes of seeing their favorite racers and to get seen on TV. This comedic documentary focuses on these wacky characters that are willing to drop everything in their personal lives for these weeks long trips centered around the festivities of the race.

One interesting thing that this film does interesting is the way that it uses sound to elevate the character comedy that the film leans pretty hard in to. This is compounded by the long takes of the characters showcasing each of their unique quirks which really helps the audience understand these people as human despite some of the crazy things that they do. Overall the film has great shot competition, knowing what needed to be captured and how it needed to be captured in order to cleverly and interestingly convey the narrative. One of the major selling points to this documentary, in my opinion, is the passion that the people show for this race. These people spend weeks out of their lives to cheer on their favorite racers in person a far cry from the few hours an American football fan would have to endure to be able to cheer on one of their favorite players in person. I believe this to be central to why this film works as well as it does, the subjects have real passion and that makes the audience want to know more about it.

Whether enduring spousal bickering or satellite television malfunction the subjects depicted in ‘Holy Tour’ will never fail to keep you interested in both their lives apart from the sport and the deep roots they have in professional cycling. From great sound design to great cinematography, this film is technically wonderful. Combined with it’s dry character humor it is sure to be a good time for everyone involved in the viewing process.