By Kostas Ioakimidis/ info@eurohoops.net
The title of the movie is “Going Vertical” and it will open on Russian movie theaters on the 28th of December.
It’s the first major Russian sports movie and it presents the most controversial final in the history of the Olympic Games from the Russian perspective which remains the opposite from that of the US. The US still protests about the outcome which was decided on the buzzer by the late Alexander Belov.
Ivan Edeshko, a member of the 1972 team who made the pass to Belov, said during the official premiere: “I never thought that a film could describe so faithfully our feelings and the whole atmosphere of the Olympic Games. Basketball was of course different, less athletic but very exciting. I am proud that my role in the film has been interpreted by such a great actor, like Kuzma Saprykin. He is also a first-class basketball player. Of course, he did not have a mustache in the movie like I did and this saddens me (laughs), but they told me that they tried it and it didn’t look good”.
The general manager of Russian basketball’s powerhouse CSKA Moscow, Andrey Vatutin added: “It is a film about a huge success of the Soviet Union and a team in which there were players from CSKA and other clubs. It is the first major Russian basketball film and the demands are high. In the past, sports movies were about hockey and football and we hope that the public will love it and the movie will also help basketball”.