Marinoni: The Fire in the Frame

Filmmaker Tony Girardin spent years trying to get famed cyclist and bicycle frame-making master Giuseppe Marinoni to be the subject of a documentary, only to find that once permission was granted, the 75-year-old, deeply suspicious Marinoni thought the director was merely trying to steal his bike-building secrets. Fortunately, Marinoni's cranky paranoia softens, and Girardin is able to dig into the interesting past of this man who in his youth was a champion cyclist in his native Italy before immigrating to Canada and resuming competition. After becoming a legend in the sport, Marinoni opened a workshop near Montreal, where his custom-made frames are built and remain highly prized by enthusiasts. But the narrative hook of this film is Marinoni's determination to break one more record in his age category: for covering the most ground in one hour on a bike, a trial that will take place in Marinoni's Italian hometown. Marinoni also tells the moving, related story of Jocelyn Lovell (1950-2016), another cycling champion who was hit by a truck and left a quadriplegic. Lovell was a longtime friend of Marinoni, and it is Lovell's old bike—which Marinoni built for him years before—that the old lion rides during his effort to break the record. Recommended. (T. Keogh)