Sportsman of the Century (2006)

Taeke's lifelong passion for pole sitting takes an interesting turn when he tries to surpass the record of 250 days.

Director:

Mischa Alexander

Writer:

Mischa Alexander

Stars:

Sipke Visser, Ida Poortinga, Jochum ten Haaf

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sipke Visser	...	Jonge Taeke
Ida Poortinga	...	Jonge Tjitske
Jochum ten Haaf	...	Taeke
Ricky Koole	...	Tjitske
Bastiaan Ragas	...	Rintje
Peter Franke	...	Oude Taeke
Rick Nicolet	...	Oude Tjitske
Harald Warmbrunn	...	Oude Rintje
Pepijn Gunneweg	...	Jonge Sake Wiarda
Lou Landré	...	Oude Sake Wiarda
Freark Smink	...	Pijlsma
Rients Gratama	...	Rients
Riemer van der Velde	...	Riemer
Heinze Bakker	...	Heinze
Henk Kroes	...	Henk

Storyline

Taeke's lifelong passion for pole sitting takes an interesting turn when he tries to surpass the record of 250 days.

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Plot Keywords:

communist | pole sitting | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Did You Know?

Trivia

During post-production, Ennio Morricone saw the film, loved it, and said that the landscapes of Friesland (the Dutch provence where the movie takes place) gave him ample inspiration to compose the music. However, he had one condition: that he could use his own orchestra. Unfortunately, the budget would not allow the additional expense, so the director, whose attention had been diverted towards Zbigniew Preisner, ultimately decided to hire the Polish composer.

User Reviews

Cool sport, poor romance

Sportsman of the century is a romantic drama about Teake Jongsma, a member of the Northern Dutch province Friesland (Fryslân). The guy is quite good in his department of sports: sitting at a pole. Teake rules this sport for about 60 years and is therefore selected to become sportsman of the century (of Fryslân, that is). The bad thing in his sports is the fact that matches can take up to 250 days. This messes up Teake's personal life, because he (poor) is fighting for one girl with another man (a rich guy named Rintje). I think the brand of sport chosen for this picture is quite original. Juchum ten Haaf is a charming sportsman, sitting high on his pole. These scenes are the cool ones in the movie. The rest (the romantic drama) is quite poor. The story is flat and contains holes, the actions of Rintje are very predictable. It's a pity, because sitting on a pole is very cool in this picture.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Netherlands]

Country:

Netherlands Germany Sweden

Language:

Frisian

Release Date:

6 April 2006 (Netherlands)

Also Known As:

Le champion du siècle

Filming Locations:

Aurich, Lower Saxony, Germany

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fido Film AB, PVPictures, Staccato Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Color:

Color