I'll Never Live Long Enough To Be As Cool As Torben Ulrich

Fans of tennis history, which I know you are all as passionate about as I am, recall fondly the seemingly endless stories about Torben Ulrich. Torben was considered the hippy of the pro tour, but his four decades of play at Wimbledon, and his 102 Davis Cup matches for Denmark, speak to his immense talent as a tennis player. As well, Torben is a true Renaissance Man, turning his hand over the years to art, music, and the inter-relation of media, athletics and Buddhism.

All of that is just a quick preamble to this 1970 experimental film about framing and narrative by Jørgen Leth. It features Torben hitting balls, being cool, drinking tea and doing improv tennis to jazz. In short, it's awesome.

Motion Picture 1970 is an experimental film with and not about the Danish tennis player Torben Ulrich, who is merely credited as "Example". The film may be viewed as a study of the nature of the medium and more specifically of the phenomena of framing, movement, and synchronicity of sound and picture

In case anyone doubts Torben's bonafides as a cat who dances to the beat of a different doumbek, here he is playing a mean drain pipe. Ulrich is also the father of Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich, but that shouldn't detract from his cool factor. He gives damn good advice to Lars when asked.