Tokyo Olympiad

Normally, I wouldn't be caught dead watching a 3 hour movie about sports. But for Ichikawa, I make an exception. I was kind of dreading it, but I got sucked in. Ichikawa infuses this movie with lots of style. Each sequence is different, and the choices he makes are surprising and excellent. A few parts drag, but most of it is really nice, even moving at times. Although it tends to highlight Japan's triumphs, it's fairly even-handed.

It's a little bit better than typical Olympics footage but could have used more documentary feature. I understand it was commissioned for the former and not the latter. The best parts were when they delved more into the human element, such as the one-in-a-lifetime situation that brings the athletes together, in particular an African athlete who never travelled much and never will again. Or the Japanese runner who came in 3rd (and later committed suicide). Fav scene: opening ceremony.

The pacing is a little imperfect, dragging at times and flying by at others. Other than that it's a surprisingly captivating film with stunning images and real insight into the human condition. The marathon section especially is a real highlight.

An outstanding opening followed by mixed success.

Good sports documentary. They did a fine job capturing the different moods of the events.

Gorgeously filmed, even though some sports -- especially those in the second half -- get incredibly short shrift; the camera spends almost as much time on sunlight reflecting on water as it does for the rowing and sailing competitions. As a *sports* fan, I was a little disappointed with so many abrupt clips. The film does do a good job with showing the humanity of sport, both in the short segments of a few competitors and the many crowd shots.