There is something genuinely feel-good, warm-hearted and touching about Alexandra Sell’s documentary Ice Aged which follows six men and women ‘of a certain age’ for the best part of three years, tracking their training at local ice rinks through to their competing at the World Hobby Figure Skating Championships at Oberstdorf in Bavaria.
It is a film about never giving up and finally having the chance to realise your dreams. As the film’s documentation states: ‘Some fairy-tales on ice grow old before they find their ending. Some ice princesses have silver hair and some ice princes dream of gold at the age of 70, putting on the same old skates they once saved up to get by stacking shelves in a supermarket.’
Ice Aged flits around the world as it introduces the six skaters, and while the arrival of Covid puts a dampener on proceedings and preparations, it also allows time for deeper investigation of the different characters.
They are an intriguing and engagingly oddball bunch. Toos is a textile saleswoman who wished for ice skates for Christmas as a child in post-war Holland, and is supported by her proud and loving husband. Elena, who skates for Germany, is introduced dressed as an ice-skating Minnie Mouse. She was brought up in a remote part of the Soviet Union, gaining three degrees in engineering, but she always loved skating and creating outfits. Meanwhile, Roland – who actually skates for the US – used to stack shelves as a youngster but ended up following a lucrative career as an auditor, all the time indulging his love for the ice in his local rink in Germany.
Linda is the one who has had most success. As a youngster she skipped school and headed to ice discos and ended up competing as British Champion at the 1968 Olympics. Hailed as the “Pocket Rocket” she stopped skating at the peak of her success, opting instead to get married. Years later she is joined by Russian Nadia, now a UK prison guard and David, a retired London Underground ticket clerk, as they make up the world’s first ice trio.
The film – with an engaging voiceover by director Alexandra Sell – follows them all as they slip their skates back on and try out their moves again on the ice. The reason they are here is Bavarian Sissy Krick, an Olympic skating judge and former star who had to retire at 17 with chronic back pains, but who decided to set up the World Hobby Figure Skating Championships and allow the chance for silver-haired skaters to live out their dreams.
Special kudos should go to the team of ice-based camera-people who whizz around the rink following the skaters as they struggle to recall their ice dance routines. The one moment of real drama – apart from Covid – comes when Linda takes a tumble and ends up in a German hospital. But this isn’t a film driven by dramatic intent – it is all about this unique group of personalities following their ice skating dreams.
Germany, 2024, 109mins
Dir: Alexandra Sell
Production: It Works!
Producer: Lisa Elstermann
Cinematography: Alexandra Sell
Editors: Sven Kulik, Rune Schweitzer, Alexandra Sell
Music: Rainer Oleak
With: Elena Rickmann, Sissy Krick, Roland Suckale, Toos van Urk, Nadia Colbourne, Linda Bernard, David Marzell
