After all, the Olympics were 'resurrected' by Pierre de Coubertin as a way to bring nations together and to have the youth of the world compete in sports rather than fight in war. Yet on the very evening of the opening ceremonies in Beijing, bombs rocked cities in a conflict between Russia and Georgia over separatists who want their independence. War, violence, controversy and the Olympics? Sad, but true and very real.
So what does all this have to do with Audience Alliance? Innumerable films have taken their cues from the Olympics, and what better time to talk about them than while world records are being broken and the medal counts are the news of the day?
Take the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany. The seventies brought optimistic social revolutions and a "hang-loose" attitude that was reflected in the Games. Of course, the latter lead to minimum-security measures that allowed Palestinian terrorists to invade the Olympic village and kill 11 members of the Israeli team, a horrifying disaster for the Games as well as the era. But it’s the very reason the 1972 Olympics is the précis of numerous films, including the 1999 Academy Award®-winning for Best Documentary, One Day in September. Directed by Kevin Macdonald and narrated by Michael Douglas, the film brings the lone survivor of the Palestinian extremist group (who'd been in hiding for 28 years) to the screen to speak about the horrible events and give a first-hand account from his perspective. Unfortunately this film, like most other movies centered around the 1972 Olympics, are rated R because of their depiction of actual violent events.
Going back to a year my father - a very attentive 7-year-old - recalls, we have the 1936 Games in Berlin, where the black Jesse Owens from Ohio State sprinted into the history books. I emphasize Owens' skin color because Adolf Hitler was the Fuehrer of Germany, where the 1936 games were held. While Hitler was promoting his "perfect" Aryan race, Owens was winning races. In the real spirit of the Olympics, politics DID NOT win out: Owens had been prepared for a hostile reception, but he so captured the imagination of the crowd that they offered ear-shattering ovations.
Take away the politics, corporate sponsors and television rights, and the Olympics are supposed to be about hope. And indeed, they generally are. Leni Riefenstahl's Olympia (1940) is a widely recommended film that depicts the Germany of 1936 as the sublime setting for the Olympic Games. The film is controversial because Riefenstahl functioned, some believe, as a pro-Hitler propagandist. Yet the film is recommended because it imbues sports with adolescent wonder. Dedicated to the "heroism and glory of the youth of the world", as events turned out, the film salutes athletic heroes like Owens who undercut the Nazis' Aryan mystique.
Then there's an Olympic epic that needs no political disclaimer, Kon Ichikawa's Tokyo Olympiad (1965). One of the most lauded Olympic films to date, Tokyo Olympiad distills - beautifully - the 1964 Summer Games. It was the first Olympics held by a non-Western nation, and the film explores both the tragic and humorous side of athletic concentration. Jocks and non-jocks alike will find something in this film that sums up the true Olympic spirit. The closing subtitles read: "Night. And the fire returned to the sun. For humans dream only once in four years. Is it enough for us: this infrequent, created peace?"
But not all great films about the Olympics are documentaries or overly serious. Cool Runnings (1983) starring John Candy - who perfectly plays a washed-up bobsled coach - is great family fare and depicts team spirit and a healthy self-confidence that is simply irresistible. A Jamaican bobsled team in freezing Calgary? You'll be pleasantly surprised by these Winter Games.
Gary Grant and Charlie Chaplin each got into the Olympic spirit in Walk Don’t Run and Charlie Chan at the Olympics, respectively. If you believe in the Olympics, you believe in miracles - whether you watched the 1980 Winter Games or saw the 2004 Disney version of Miracle. This retelling of the U.S. Hockey squad's astonishing Gold Medal victory over the seemingly invincible Russian squad in Lake Placid (starring Kurt Russell) will bring you to your feet. The thrill of victory, indeed.
And of course no one can dispute the unforgettable Chariots of Fire, the British still-upper-lip, nostalgia-charged drama centered on the Paris Olympics of 1924. Chariots won four Academy Awards®, including Best Picture of 1981, and introduced us to the synthesizer score by Vangelis - an inevitable musical element in countless inspirational sports sagas, including the Olympics. (A bit of trivia: when Prince Charles and Lady Diana wed, they requested the film for their honeymoon yacht.)
A handful of filmmakers have seized on Olympic sport - using it to celebrate both the emotional extremes and the sheer physicality of those who put themselves on the athletic edge. Add the "human interest" side to the Games (everyone loves the short "videographies" of athletes who've overcome extreme obstacles to get to the Olympics) and 2008 seems to have it all. But will these games produce any movies?
Dana Abdul-Razak, a female sprinter for the Iraq team, has had to cut deals with Shiite militiamen and Sunni insurgents to get practice time, and she has literally dodged sniper fire to get to Beijing. Her triumph at the Games won't be to finish the race, but simply to start. I imagine screenwriters the world over are starting their drafts already.
By Sara-Lynn White
