Watch at Home 10.08.2019

The Ice King

Directed by James Erskine
Film Movement
2018
89 Minutes
United Kingdom
English
Documentary, Sports, LGBTQIA2S+
NR

John Curry transformed ice skating from a dated sport into an exalted art form. Coming out on the night of his Olympic win in 1976, he became the first openly gay Olympian in a time when homosexuality was not even fully legal. Toxic yet charming; rebellious yet elitist; emotionally aloof yet spectacularly needy; ferociously ambitious yet bent on self-destruction, this is a man forever on the run: from his father's ghost, his country, and even his own self. Above all, an artist and an athlete whose body time and time again – sometimes against his will – becomes a political battlefield.

Director & Cast

  • Director: James Erskine
  • Starring: John Curry
  • Starring: Freddie Fox (narrator)

Trailer

Photos

Reviews

  • "The brilliance of the British figure skater is celebrated in a documentary that doesn’t shy away from his demons."
    Wendy Ide, The Guardian
  • "A startling, insightful portrait of John Curry, ice-skating champion and gay icon."
    Trevor Johnston, Time Out
  • "The skating legend John Curry is the subject of this soft and sweetly elegiac sports documentary that is moving and earnest without once being saccharine or hagiographical."
    Kevin Maher, The TImes
  • "Easily one of the best documentary offerings so far this year, The Ice King is a fine testament to an artist who challenged preconceptions and prejudices, both on and off the ice."
    Adam Lowes, Cinevue