Stars and Watercarriers -1973 Giro d'Italia

Stars & Watercarriers

A documentary by Jorgen Leth, this one follows the 1973 Giro d’Italia, but it’s not a story about the race—there are few clues to the general classification, time differentials, stage winners, or other facts. Instead, you get unforgettable images of Eddy Merckx, such as when he lets a hometown racer go off the front for a moment of glory then ferociously chases and passes him. And you get the watercarriers, the workers, whose images are perhaps more inspiring than Merckx’s—not to mention the somehow magic scene of glass bottles of water being opened with keys and passed around the pack during the race.