Ive been asked this question many times, especially in regard to Saint Ralph.

As the writer and director, people want to know what the genesis of the story
was. In this case it was quite simple: I started with a very vague notion that I
wanted to make a film about running. For many years I was a competitive
distance runner and it was a world I knew very wellthus the lazy side of my
personality realized research would be minimal. Although I loved Chariots of
Fire, the film landscape isnt littered with fantastic running moviesunlike say
boxing. I felt that there were opportunities to showcase the sport in a unique
way. From the outset I wanted to capture some of the pain of training and
racing in a manner that I hadnt seen before.

From there I came up with the idea of creating a story about a fourteen-yearold boy who gets it in his head that he can win the Boston Marathon. Thats it.
At that point I didnt know why he wanted to do this but I felt that as a
foundation for a movie, it had potential. I chose Boston because the race has
been around for over a century and it is one of the worlds most notable
footraces. Winning it would mean something to even the casual sports fan.
What made Boston work even better (for my story purposes) is that on some
years the race falls the day after Easter and it is always held on a Monday. If
you see the film, youll understand what Im talking about.

The next piece in the puzzle was creating a compelling reason for Ralphs
slightly ridiculous endeavor. The stakes had to be high enough to make him
unwavering in his pursuit. After all, in training for the marathon, as our
character Longboat advises, Dedication is paramount. Putting in the miles is
essential to greatness. It had to be a life and death issue. Therefore I decided
to create a situation where Ralph believes that it will take a miracle for him to
save his dying mother. In short order Ralph equates winning Boston to this
miracle. Once that was in place I felt I had more than ample justification for
setting him on his quest.

I wrestled with the idea of what era to set the movie and eventually settled on
the 1950s for two reasons. The first is that I thought it would be much more
believable to have a character like Ralph Walker come from complete obscurity
to contend at Boston. In the decades since, fourteen-year-olds have run much
faster than the winning time of the 1954 Boston Marathon. It seemed logical (at
least to me) that Ralphs unique training methods and unwavering
determination would be enough, in an era of relatively unsophisticated
approaches to the sport, to transform him into a contender. Because presentday distance runners reach peak form in their late-twenties and the times they

run are so much fasterrelative to teenagersI felt that it would stretch

credibility to have Ralph compete with todays world-class marathoners. Add to
this the notion of obscurity being so much harder to achieve in an information
age, and the fifties made sense.

The second reason is that I was interested in exploring the notion of faithor in
this case, misguided faithby using the Catholic Church as a backdrop. I felt a
modern setting with priests at an all-boys school would necessitate exploring
some of the darker issues that the church is facing and these werent part of
the story. Perhaps more importantly, in the 1950s, for many Catholics, the
church defined their world. It was the starting and stopping place. Either you
were Catholic or you werent. This was important because the protagonist,
Father Fitzpatrick, then becomes much more of a threat. To go up against
someone like him, as Ralph does, would have serious ramifications. I didnt feel
like the stakes would be nearly as high today.

The rest of the script I corralled around this starting place. Who were Ralphs
friends? Who helped him? What were the obstacles to achieving a miracle?

Even though I wrote Saint Ralph, the process still seems to me like a
mysterious alchemy. This notion that characters, worlds, conflicts, dreams can
be siphoned from the ether, transferred to the page and then filmed in such a
way as to make audiences suspend their disbelief, seems rather miraculous.
Especially as I sniff around the folds of my brain for my next film. But as Father
Hibbert says, If were not chasing after miracles, whats the point?

-------------------------------------

He formulado esta pregunta muchas veces, especialmente en lo que respecta a

Saint Ralph. Como el escritor y director, la gente quiere saber cul es la
gnesis de la historia. En este caso fue muy simple: Yo empec con una muy
vaga idea de que yo quera hacer una pelcula sobre la ejecucin. Durante

muchos aos yo era un corredor de la competencia y se trata de un mundo que

saba muy bien-por lo tanto, el perezoso parte de mi personalidad realizado
investigacin sera mnimo. Aunque me encant Chariots de Fuego, la pelcula
no es el paisaje plagado de pelculas fantsticas ejecutando decir-a diferencia
de boxeo. Sent que haba oportunidades para mostrar el deporte en una forma
nica. Desde el principio he querido captar algunos de los dolores de la
formacin y las carreras de una manera que yo no haba visto antes.

De all surgi con la idea de crear una historia sobre un catorce aos de edad
que recibe en la cabeza que puede ganar la Maratn de Boston. Eso es todo. En
ese momento no saba por qu quera hacer esto, pero creo que como base
para una pelcula, que tena potencial. Yo escog la carrera de Boston, porque
ha existido por ms de un siglo y es uno de los ms notables del mundo
footraces. Ganar significara que algo que incluso los aficionados al deporte
ocasional. Lo que hizo an mejor el trabajo de Boston (para fines de mi
historia) es que en algunos aos la carrera se inscribe el da despus de Pascua
y es siempre un lunes. Si ves la pelcula, te entiendo lo que estoy hablando.

La siguiente pieza en el rompecabezas era la creacin de una razn de peso

para Ralph ligeramente ridculo esfuerzo. El juego tuvo que ser lo
suficientemente alta para que le firme en su bsqueda. Despus de todo, en la
formacin para el maratn, como nuestro carcter Longboat asesora, "La
dedicacin es fundamental. Poner en las millas es esencial para la grandeza.
"Tuvo que ser una cuestin de vida o muerte. Por lo tanto, decid crear una
situacin en la que Ralph cree que tendr para l un milagro para salvar a su
madre moribunda. En el corto plazo equivale Ralph Boston para ganar este
milagro. Una vez que estuvo en el lugar me sent que tena ms que suficiente
justificacin para el establecimiento de l en su bsqueda.

Yo luchaba con la idea de lo que era para establecer la pelcula y finalmente se

establecieron en la dcada de 1950 por dos razones. La primera es que pens
que sera mucho ms creble para tener un personaje como Ralph Walker
provienen de la oscuridad completa que lidiar en Boston. En las dcadas,
puesto que, catorce aos han corrido mucho ms rpido que el tiempo de
ganar la Maratn de Boston 1954. Parece lgico (al menos para m) que la
nica Ralph mtodos de formacin e inquebrantable determinacin sera
suficiente, en una poca de relativamente poco para el deporte, para
transformar en l un contendiente. Porque hoy en da corredores alcanzar su
pico en forma tarda aos veinte y los tiempos que corren son mucho ms
rpido en relacin con los adolescentes, me senta que se extienden a tener

credibilidad Ralph competir con el mundo de hoy-clase maratonistas. Aadir a

esto la nocin de la oscuridad que tanto ms difcil de lograr en una era de la
informacin, y la dcada de los cincuenta sentido.

La segunda razn es que yo estaba interesado en explorar el concepto de la feo en este caso, un error de fe con la Iglesia catlica como teln de fondo. Me
sent un ambiente moderno con todos los sacerdotes en una escuela para
varones sera necesario explorar algunos de los temas ms oscuros que la
iglesia se enfrenta y no se trataba de parte de la historia. Quizs es ms
importante, en la dcada de 1950, para muchos catlicos, la iglesia define su
mundo. Era el lugar de arranque y parada. Ya sea usted catlico o no. Esto era
importante porque el protagonista, el padre Fitzpatrick, entonces se convierte
en mucho ms de una amenaza. Para ir en contra de alguien como l, como
Ralph, no tendra graves consecuencias. No me siento como el juego sera casi
tan alto hoy en da.

El resto de la secuencia de comandos que acorraladas en torno a este punto de

partida. Quines fueron los amigos de Ralph? Quin lo ayud? Cules fueron
los obstculos para lograr un milagro?

A pesar de que escribi Saint Ralph, el proceso an me parece una misteriosa

alquimia. Esta nocin de que los personajes, mundos, los conflictos, los sueos
pueden ser desviados desde el ter, transferido a la pgina y, a continuacin,
filmado de manera tal de hacer pblico suspender su incredulidad, parece
bastante milagroso. Especialmente en torno a oler como los pliegues de mi
cerebro para mi prxima pelcula. Pero como dice el Padre Hibbert: "Si no
estamos persiguiendo despus de los milagros, cul es el punto?"

Genre:Comedy | Drama | Sport more

Tagline:
Plot:Set in Hamilton in 1954, Saint Ralph is the unlikely story of Ralph Walker, a
ninth grader who outran everyone's expectations except his own in his bold
quest to win the Boston Marathon. Ralph is a fatherless 14-year-old with a
seriously ill mother, who knows he's a time bomb waiting to explode into

greatness, except that he has no idea where that greatness will manifest itself.
An unfortunate incident of self-abuse in the community pool inadvertently sets
him on this road when, as penance, Ralph is conscripted to the cross-country
team. Desperate to believe a miracle will bring his mother out of a coma, Ralph
becomes a convert to the church of running, and determines to win the Boston
Marathon.
Saint Ralph is the unlikely story of Ralph Walker, a ninth grader who outran
everyone's expectations except his own in his bold quest of trying to win the
1954 Boston MarathonYou may report errors and omissions on this page to the
IMDb database managers. They will be examined and if approved will be
included in a future update. Clicking the 'Update' button will take you through a
step-by-step process.

Finding yourself on the starting line of life

A comedy about chasing miracles. Una comedia acerca de la persecucion de un
milagro
He's hoping for a miracle. He doesn't have a prayer. El saltaba por un milagro
el no tenia una oracion

Set in the early 1950s, the film stars Adam Butcher as Ralph Walker, a teenager
attending a Catholic private school. Ralph's father was killed in World War II
before the beginning of the movie, and his mother is seen to have cancer.
Ralph is naturally prone to mischief and often finds himself an outcast among
his classmates. He tries to emulate the conduct of grown ups, and is caught
smoking cigarettes and masturbating by the headmaster of his school. Already
labeled a troublemaker, Ralph is forced to join the school's cross country team
to relieve him of his excess energy and "evil tendencies".

When Ralph's mother falls into a coma in the hospital, it affects him deeply.
Told it would take a miracle for his mother to survive, and subsequently
overhearing his coach claim that a member of the team winning the Boston
Marathon would be a miracle, Ralph decides to train for the marathon in hopes
that his win would fulfill the miracle needed to save his mother's life.

At first, Ralph cannot even keep up with his teammates in practice. He reads
books to learn about running, uses the new techniques and gradually improves.
In time, he wins the attention of a younger priest teaching at his school,
himself a former world class marathoner, who decides to train him despite
disapproval from the headmaster. Along the way, Ralph begins to win the
respect of his classmates, and eventually wins the attention of the media when
he wins a prestigious regional race.

The headmaster discovers Ralph's intention to run the Boston Marathon, as

well as the assistance of the younger priest. He also reads in the paper of

Ralph's belief that a victory could awaken his mother. The headmaster is a very
conservative, high ranking priest and finds this idea blasphemous. He
threatens to expel Ralph should he participate in the marathon, as well as to
remove his coach from the priesthood should he try to interfere.

Both Ralph and his mentor must then make their own decisions of how deeply
they believe in miracles, and what is possible when a person risks everything
without promise of success.

Situado en el principios de 1950, las estrellas de cine Adam Carnicero como

Ralph Walker, un adolescente asiste a una escuela privada catlica. El padre de
Ralph fue muerto en la Segunda Guerra Mundial antes del comienzo de la
pelcula, y su madre se considera que tienen cncer. Ralph naturalmente
propensos a la malicia y con frecuencia se encuentra en un paria entre sus
compaeros de clase. Se trata de emular el comportamiento de los adultos, y
es capturado de fumar cigarrillos y masturbandose por el director de su
escuela. Ya etiquetados como alborotador, Ralph se ve obligado a ingresar en
la escuela del equipo de esqu de fondo a lo eximir de su exceso de energa y
"mal tendencias".

Cuando la madre de Ralph cae en coma en el hospital, que le afecta

profundamente. Dijo que tomara un milagro para su madre para sobrevivir, y
posteriormente su entrenador overhearing reclamacin de que un miembro del
equipo ganador del Maratn de Boston sera un milagro, Ralph decide entrenar
para el maratn con la esperanza de que su victoria sera necesario cumplir el
milagro para salvar la vida de su madre.

En un primer momento, Ralph ni siquiera pueden mantenerse al da con sus

compaeros de equipo en la prctica. l lee libros para aprender sobre la
ejecucin, utiliza las nuevas tcnicas y mejora gradualmente. Con el tiempo,
gana la atencin de un joven sacerdote de enseanza en su escuela, l mismo
un ex maratoniano de clase mundial, quien decide formar a l, a pesar de la
desaprobacin de la directora. A lo largo del camino, Ralph comienza a ganar el
respeto de sus compaeros de clase, y finalmente gana la atencin de los
medios de comunicacin cuando se gana una carrera de prestigio regional.

El director Ralph descubre la intencin de correr el Maratn de Boston, as

como la asistencia de la joven sacerdote. Tambin dice en el papel de Ralph de
la creencia de que una victoria podra despertar a su madre. El director es muy
conservador, sacerdote de alto rango y considera esta idea blasfemo. Que
amenaza con expulsar a Ralph en caso de que participar en el maratn, as
como para eliminar su entrenador desde el sacerdocio se debe tratar de
interferir.

Tanto Ralph y su mentor debe tomar sus propias decisiones de cun

profundamente se cree en milagros, y lo que es posible cuando una persona
todo sin riesgos promesa de xito.