By Josh Hughes
On Friday, November 4 at 6:30 p.m., the Performing Arts Center will be showing the new ski film “Pleasure” by Level 1 Productions. In PAC 155, attendees should expect an exhilarating hour of up and coming skiers from around the world in their element, exploring and skiing everywhere from British Columbia to India to Japan.
Directed by Josh Berman, Freedle Coty, and Johnny Durst, “Pleasure” showcases the artistry and athleticism of world class freestyle skiers while also feeling down to earth and intimate. Shots of athletes shredding around playgrounds and down intimidating mountains are dispersed with clips of them joking around, missing jumps, and talking about “party lights.”
Level 1’s description of the film proclaims: “It’s also propped up with no ego; just having fun and skiing with your friends”.
The vaguely sarcastic and tongue-in-cheek narration by Helen Moore-Gillon also adds to the charm of the film, as she makes witty remarks and gives deceptively wise words on the exhilaration of skiing.
The central theme to the film is indeed “pleasure,” or the brief moments that the athletes live for each day when they get to hit the slopes or complete a run that no one has accomplished before. For a lighthearted sports film, it’s impressive watching the magnitude of both completed and failed runs, showcasing the unending determination that these skiers need to have to reach their goals and improve their skills. For each successfully completed course or run, there’s an additional four or five shots of the same course failed over and over again; scenes with stairwells and a particularly incredible run involving a water pipe go at lengths to express the patience and physical endurance these skiers possess.
That said, the editing and structure of “Pleasure” makes the film a thoroughly enticing slice of ski culture. Chopped up into thematically related segments, the movie follows some fifteen different Level 1 skiers throughout a full array as to what limits the concept of skiing itself can push. There’s everything from building ramps over bunny slopes in India to backcountry skiing in British Columbia, as well as nearly everything in between. The pure imagery throughout is breathtaking, and the overall vibe of the film is consistent through all of the different cinematographers. Each scene is impossible to take your eyes off of, and the result is borderline hypnotic. The narration gives way to montage snippets with buoyant music in the background, but nothing in the film comes off as overplayed or boring. Each and every scene focuses on something different to wow the viewer, so you don’t leave feeling as though you’ve watched someone hitting the same slope fifty times.
While the film is out and available through Level 1’s website, iTunes, or Amazon, don’t miss out on the chance to see “Pleasure” on a theater screen here at the PAC; it’s a film very much meant to be enjoyed in as a grandiose an environment as possible.
