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"One of the most compelling records of sport on film … as an expression of the mind of the athlete, it is unsurpassed." – The Washington Post
In 1964, the Japanese Government commissioned Kon Ichikawa (Fires on the Plain, MIFF 66) to make a record of that year's Olympic Games: the first major public event held in a reconstructed Tokyo.
With over 100 camera operators at his disposal, Ichikawa homes in on minute details: faces deep in concentration, muscles under stress, clocks and flags. Footage of individual events is interspersed with details such as athletes' preparations and the solitude of a Chadian runner eating a meal. The result – digitally restored in 2013 and screening at MIFF in 4K – is widely regarded as one of the greatest sporting documentaries ever committed to celluloid: a chronicle not merely of medal tallies or records, success or failure, but of the limits of human exertion.
"A masterful film that pushes past immersive into something close to transcendent … one of the most truly perfect films ever made." – Nonfics
MIFF thanks the IOC for their assistance in presenting the Tokyo Olympiad restoration.