#THE TRUE STORY OF ICARUS HOW TO#
#THE TRUE STORY OF ICARUS MOVIE#

One cannot blame those viewers who, prior to that point, were bored and wondered if this would be yet another expose on how privileged guys like Bryan were cheating the system for a moment of temporary glory and how doping had permeated into the weekend warriors scene. We learn that Grigory is the real protagonist and we are heading in a very dark and dangerous direction for Grigory, for Bryan, and for those around them.

#THE TRUE STORY OF ICARUS MOVIE#

There is a marked and brilliant turning point in the movie when Grigory, a smiling and joking class clown up until that point, faces directly at the camera in a Skype conversation with Bryan and asks 'have you seen a movie about me?' From that point on, the story's point of view changes from Bryan to Grigory and we learn something that we cannot unlearn, and realize that there is no going back. We then go into the obligatory montage of training, preparation, and failures that seems all too familiar. They talk via Skype frequently, and even their dogs participate. Then Bryan meets a very amusing and very cynical Russian scientist named Grigory Rodchenkov, who is going to help him. It is difficult to find a way to sympathize for any person during this part of the story. The silly, and somewhat egotistical quest of Bryan Fogel to prove that doping is rampant and easy to get away with (duh!) while helping himself win the amateur race that has eluded him for years. Bryan Fogel, who directed it, is like a man wanting to learn what is like to be a tiger and, in wanting to get closer to the truth, inadvertently locks himself in the tiger's cage.

A 'what if' that could make a good story perhaps an episode-long piece on '60 Minutes' or '20/20'. Blinded by his ambition to achieve the impossible, Icarus let his guard down and paid the ultimate price.Icarus starts naively enough, like most documentaries with a desire to learn something. In a moment of complete madness, he lost all sense of reason, and, like any thrill seeking individual who makes a rash decision in the heat of the moment, he lacked the foresight to understand where his actions would lead. This feeling must have been quite something, a chance to get closer to the gods than any other mortal human had before. While Icarus was soaring through the sky, the adrenaline must have rushed to his head as he looked up towards heaven, the place of the gods. To Get Closer to the Gods The Fall of Icarus In this situation, it’s easy to think of Icarus as a reckless, arrogant youth who lets his guard down and gives in to temptation, losing sight of the bigger picture in the excitement and thrill of the moment.

#THE TRUE STORY OF ICARUS HOW TO#

When his father created the wings and instructed Icarus how to fly, the pair took to the sky with relative ease, leaving behind a life of captivity and confinement. Ovid suggests Icarus is an adolescent on the brink of adulthood, and he can be understood as a symbol for any young adult yearning for a taste of independence after having been cooped up with a parent or figure of authority. Having been locked up in a tower with his father Daedalus for some time, we can imagine that Icarus felt an incredible rush of freedom once he was finally able to fly free.

Icarus Was Enjoying His Newfound Freedom Daedalus and Icarus, Lord Frederick Leighton, 1869, private collection

The true story of icarus