'3 Seconds': Retelling of 1972 Olympics' controversial game

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On April 16, the second viewing of the film "3 Seconds" at the Beijing International Film Festival (BJIFF) took place. Du Liang, a young Chinese director, attended the post-screening seminar as presenter of the film. He shared what he knew about the backstory of the film's creation.

The audience gave high praise for the presentation of the final scene of the film, which is based on one of the most controversial games in world sports history, and the tense moments were well rendered.

"3 seconds" is an accurate retelling of the men's basketball final at the 1972 Munich Olympics.

Russian actor Vladimir Lvovich Mashkov, who starred in "Mission Impossible 4," plays the critically acclaimed coach. The coach's first act as a member of the Soviet Union's national basketball team was to announce to the world that the Soviet team would defeat the United States at the international Olympic Games.

Russian actor Vladimir Lvovich Mashkov plays the critically acclaimed coach in the film. /Wanda Pictures Photo

It is an intuitive demonstration of the significance of the basketball game in which the nation's honor was bet against the backdrop of the cold war between the United States and the Soviet Union.

It is reported that with the release of "3 Seconds" in Russia the brilliant performance inspired many nationals and set a record for the biggest domestic film ever made in the country.

"We have a lot of good sports themes in China, but we didn't bring sports movies of this quality to audiences so far," said Du. "Of course, I believe there will be more good movies adapted from sports in China in the future."

A still from the film. /Wanda Pictures Photo

It is worth mentioning that the young actors who play basketball players in the film are all from non-professional backgrounds. It took them a year of professional basketball training after signing the contract to match the level of the professional players in the film.

"So at that time, I thought that I must bring this film to China, and meet the Chinese audience so that we know that sports movies can also be made in this way," Du added.

Du said investors are unlikely to want to invest in such a film. "The current film market is the world of young people, and who will go to see a story in 1972?"

The second viewing of "3 Seconds" held at the 2019 Beijing International Film Festival, April 16. /CGTN Photo

However, Du Liang said it took three years to work on the movie – a lot of efforts were put into the design and presentation of the scenes, costumes and props. The whole team also watched the final more than 300 times and put seven machines into closed shooting for 30 days.

The film's success at the domestic box office in Russia also proves that the effort paid off.

"When the film's crew decided to make the film, they were faced with great difficulties. So I brought this film to China with respect to them," Du added.

It is reported that the movie "3 Seconds" is about to be released on the Chinese mainland.

(Video edited by Wang Zengzheng; cover picture provided by Wanda Pictures and redesigns by Gao Hongmei)