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Anamorphic
widescreen |
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Dolby Digital
5.1 |
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DTS |
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Trailer(s) |
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Featurette(s) |
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Documentary |
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Audio commentary
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Deleted scenes
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Concept art
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Multi-angle
feature |
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voice-over
narration: The contestant from Ceylon is the final runner in this
race.
A
documentary film of the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan.
 Kon
Ichikawa's filmic account of the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo is a unique
piece of work in more ways than one. Commissioned by the Olympic
Committee but initially rejected for being 'too artistic', it
has been cut down to under two hours in length for its many TV
broadcasts and had its incredible widescreen cinematography mutilated
unflinchingly into a horrendous pan&scan 4:3 transfer. Now
at last, it can finally be admired in its original form and its
original running time of close to three hours. Its emphasis is
squarely on the individual athlete throughout, with more attention
usually given to the athletes' struggle than to the race's outcome.
Ichikawa's small army of cameras is truly everywhere, impressively
capturing sports events from unconventional angles, often using
different speeds and unusual sound effects. From moment to moment,
it's a filmic masterpiece, a masterful, impeccably produced celebration
of the human spirit set in city still undergoing reconstruction
after the devastation of WWII. But as technically accomplished
and brilliantly conceived as it might be, this epic work by its
very nature still lacks the recurring characters and overall structure
that would normally pull a viewer in. But it's still an immense,
sprawling document of an event made even more interesting by its
historical context and cinematic treatment.
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Only
available on DVD as a Region 1 release from the Criterion Collection.
The anamorphic widescreen image
is framed at an aspect ratio of approx. 2.35:1. The source print
is in excellent shape: colors are somewhat faded, leaving the color
pallette rather limited, but blacks are deep and solid and there
is hardly any grain noticeable at all.
The monaural sound mix is presented in Dolby Digital 1.0. Fidelity
is unfortunately severely limited, with the music tracks suffering
most from the lack of dynamics. The announcer's voice sounds thin
and tinny, and the track overall has a disappointingly thin presence.
The only extra on the disc itself
is an audio commentary track from noted film historian and
admitted Olympics addict Peter Cowie. With a truly encyclopedic
knowledge of the event's long history along with a solid appreciation
and historic knowledge of film style, Cowie's commentary actually
transforms the film into a different experience entirely. Without
the stylized use of sound (and silence), his commentary places the
pictured events within a fascinating historical perspective, often
contrasting the 1964 Games with the way they have developed since.
He also throws in enough older historical bits of information to
make any listener something of an Olympics expert after nearly three
hours, and even manages to include highly detailed backgrounds for
many of the featured athletes.
The other extras are to be found as text inclusions in the impressive
booklet, which is so thick, it only just fits inside the
case's inside clasps. Well-known sports writer George Plimpton's
account of the entire controversy about the film's initial rejection
has been included, followed by a lengthy symposium, excerpted
from a book on Ichikawa, in which numerous experts chime in on
the discussion surrounding the film. All in all, an impressive
package, recommended for film style enthusiasts and absolutely
essential for sports fans.
The animated menu screens incorporate
numerous time-lapse frames of runners taking off from the start
line. Navigation is as accomplished as we would expect from a Criterion
Collection release.
Dan
Hassler-Forest
Reviewed: August
19, 2002
Click
here for IMDB info on Tokyo
Olympiad.
Click here
to return to the front page.
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