The Ultra Runner

For Tiberiu Uşeriu, every step that he takes when competing in some of the world’s most gruelling sports events is part of a longer journey. Indeed, however astonishing it is to witness an exhausted, frost-bitten Uşeriu pushing forward for days without sleep and testing the limits of human endurance as an ultramarathon competitor, The Ultra Runner presents a life story that may be even more incredible.

Thankfully, viewers of director Mila Aung-Thwin’s superb documentary do not have to go out in the cold themselves to witness Uşeriu compete in the 6633 Arctic Ultra, an infamously brutal footrace across over 600 kilometres in the Canadian north. Along with riveting footage of the athlete weathering the subzero temperatures and trying to survive the race’s most punishing effects, Aung-Thwin’s film makes highly skilful and stylish use of re-enactments to convey key moments from Uşeriu’s difficult childhood in Romania and the downward spiral that led to a years-long stint for armed robbery in a high-security German prison. It’s there in the tight confines of a prison yard where Ușeriu began to find a way out of his darkness.

Vividly and compellingly captured in The Ultra Runner — which is itself a triumph for Aung-Thwin and Montreal’s EyeSteelFilm team — this extraordinary man’s process of rehabilitation provides a route not just to triumphs at events like the race across the Arctic. It also points a way toward the most profound joys of love, family, and human connection.

JASON ANDERSON

Content advisory: violence, accident trauma, coarse language