The Chekhov’s Gun trope is one that is not commonly associated with documentary filmmaking. For those unfamiliar, Anton Chekhov was a Russian writer from the late 1800s, well known for his short fiction works and his masterful command over the machinations of said works. The concept of Chekhov’s Gun comes from multiple quotes that point to an ideology he appeared to hold dear. This is the idea that anything “on display” in a story should serve a purpose. “If you say in the first chapter that there is a rifle hanging on the wall, in the second or third chapter it absolutely must go off.”
With just the title alone, the team behind Pretending I’m a Superman set up their intended audience on the edge of their seats, waiting with bated breath for that Ska/Punk anthem to go off. Filmmakers with less experience or understanding of the topic might have used Goldfinger’s “Superman” as the theme for the piece, but these folks know what you want and they aren’t giving it up that easy.
The traditional documentary format is not one that inherently meshes well with the radical, D.I.Y. ethos of skateboard culture or particularly the bombast of the Tony Hawk Pro Skater video game franchise. The team behind Pretending I’m a Superman aren’t trying to skitch on Ken Burns’ reliable vehicle however. In an age where NoClip is creating and distributing high quality video game documentaries for free, Pretending I’m a Superman easily takes up space in the conversation while still asking for and deserving your money. This is due, in no small part, to the Producer/Director team of Ralph D’Amato and Ludvig Gür.
D’Amato was a producer on the first eight THPS titles and based on the number of developers, skaters and musicians he was able to bring back for the film, he is responsible for a lot of its heart. These interviews have an air of old friends coming back together to talk about their crazy college days after giving them a few decades space. One moment, someone will be borderline deifying Tony Hawk and then there will be a cut to the man himself undermining everything to insist he is just a thankful, lucky dude. It seems that most, if not all of the participants in this documentary showed up not out of a sense of obligation, but from a genuine desire to catch up and reminisce with old and new friends about the franchise. Cultivating a positive atmosphere is one thing, but capturing that atmosphere is an entirely different beast all together. This is the exact reason that, when talking to D’Amato, he insists Gür was instrumental in constructing the film.
Gür cut his teeth on YouTube making THPS content with only the resources he had in his home. The big difference between those days and now is obviously that he no longer has to speculate or read on Wikipedia about Hawk landing the 900 for the first time, he can just ask the guy about it. Filtering the narrative through a fan’s lens, serves to give the audience a lean and engaging experience. This film feels dense for being under an hour and a half, but never in a negative way. The viewer gets a skateboard history lesson, a franchise retrospective and a bit of “where are they now?” for folks that haven’t kept up, all packaged with excellent archival skate footage and songs from the franchise. Gür has an idea of what he thinks fans want to see and he rarely misses the mark.
If anything close to criticism could be leveled at the film, it would be that it is “breezy”. There is no deeper meaning unearthed by the time the credits roll, but that was never the point. It seems the team made a conscious effort to place entertainment over information at times and that can leave fans speculating as to what had to stay on the cutting room floor. However, bonus features that were not available at the time of this writing will be packaged with the release and could clear up this slight gripe.
The Final Word
Pretending I’m a Superman found me personally growing and looking older all the time, but after watching it, I feel younger in my mind than I have in a long time.
– MonsterVine Rating: 4 out of 5 – Good
