Underplayed Gems

Tokyo Olympiad (1965)

Tokyo Olympiad poster
Original title
東京オリンピック
Directed by
Kon Ichikawa
Genre
documentary film
Country
Japan
Runtime
2h 50m
Rated
G
Rating
7.7 of 10 from 51 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
The 3D catalogue: film cases on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalogue in 3D

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How it feels

This documentary captures the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. It focuses on the athletes and the atmosphere of the games rather than just the competition and winners.

atmospherichuman-focusedobservationalcelebratorypoeticreflectivewarmintimate

What happens

Tokyo Olympiad, also known in Japan as Tōkyō Olympic (東京オリンピック, Tōkyō Orinpikku; lit. "Tokyo Olympics"), is a 1965 Japanese documentary film directed by Kon Ichikawa which documents the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Like Leni Riefenstahl's Olympia, which documented the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Ichikawa's film was considered a cinematographic milestone in documentary filmmaking. However, Tokyo Olympiad keeps its focus far more on the atmosphere of the games and the human side of the athletes rather than concentrating on winning and the results. It is one of the few sports documentaries included in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

More like this

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