When i first heard the title of this film, I thought it was about either: 1. Centre's Upset of Harvard in 1920. 2. The 1958 NFL Championship. 3. The last game of the 1960 World Series, 0r (a tie) Texas Vs. Arkansas, 1969 2.The sixth Game between Boston and Cincinnati in 1976 or 3. The "confrontation", Southern Cal versus UCLA, 1967. As You may have guessed, I prefer Football and baseball to golf. Having said that, and having seen this movie, I will say that this probably the best golf movie ever, and that the game it tells about WAS the greatest game of golf, ever. It was the greatest, not simply because an unknown 19 year old amateur, Francis Ouimet upset one of the greatest golfers who ever lived, Harry Vardon, (And another very fine golfer, Ted Ray as well), but because it marked a turning point in the history of golf in America, helping to make the game popular among all Americans. However, The greatest books about Sports- Beyond A Boundary, Friday Night Lights,, When The Colts Belonged to Baltimore, The Boys Of summer, and a few others, explore the social, ethical and spiritual context of sport, and so do the best movies about sports. This Is a great sports movie based on a great sports book, and it has both a socio - economic and an ethical subtext.
The socio-economic context in the book and the film is CLASS , and class conflict.Golf began as a game for aristocrats. In the very first scene, aristocrats confiscate the young Harry Vardon's family farm to build a golf course. Twenty years later, the humbly born Vardon is the greatest golfer in the world. Vardon is a self-made gentleman who infuriates the British golf establishment by picking the uncouth Ted Ray as his co-representative for Great Britain at the !919US Golf Championship. Ouimet himself is an social outsider, a working-class youth who stuns the US golf establishment by his superb play, which culminates in a three way playoff who determine the championship. Ouimets eventual upset win created an international sensation, In addition, the book and the film have a moral context as well. They both celebrate the virtues of true sportsmanship; courage, loyalty, perseverance, and hard work. They also show that true aristocracy is a matter of merit, not birth. The humbly born Vardon and Ouimet- even the Falstaff-like Ted Ray, possess more truly aristocratic qualities than the aristocrats of the gold establishment.
On top of all that, this is a well-acted, expertly directed, and superbly edited and shot film. In short, this is the best sports films, ever.
The socio-economic context in the book and the film is CLASS , and class conflict.Golf began as a game for aristocrats. In the very first scene, aristocrats confiscate the young Harry Vardon's family farm to build a golf course. Twenty years later, the humbly born Vardon is the greatest golfer in the world. Vardon is a self-made gentleman who infuriates the British golf establishment by picking the uncouth Ted Ray as his co-representative for Great Britain at the !919US Golf Championship. Ouimet himself is an social outsider, a working-class youth who stuns the US golf establishment by his superb play, which culminates in a three way playoff who determine the championship. Ouimets eventual upset win created an international sensation, In addition, the book and the film have a moral context as well. They both celebrate the virtues of true sportsmanship; courage, loyalty, perseverance, and hard work. They also show that true aristocracy is a matter of merit, not birth. The humbly born Vardon and Ouimet- even the Falstaff-like Ted Ray, possess more truly aristocratic qualities than the aristocrats of the gold establishment.
On top of all that, this is a well-acted, expertly directed, and superbly edited and shot film. In short, this is the best sports films, ever.