Jeux de la XXIème olympiade

Nadia Comaneci performs, and so does Bruce Jenner. Queen Elizabeth II is in the audience, and so is Leni Riefenstahl. The movie is cut efficiently, but without anything obviously to say except that this is the Olympics. I have the feeling that the games, while still worth seeing, have become rote; there's no sense of purpose, that these games mean more than the competition. Perhaps it is a sense of exhaustion; the idea that these amateurs would get together pour l'amour et pour la sport, that there is something in this world that unites us. That was the point of the 1896 Olympics, and it continued to grow throughout its history..... and was shot dead in 1972.

"Games of the XXI Olympiad" by directors Jean-Claude Labrecque , Jean Beaudin , Marcel Carrière & Georges Dufaux is a classic and very good 1970s documentary. It means it follows the path established by Michael Lindsay-Hogg's "Let It Be" (1970) -- the ultrarealistic, intimate, even brutal style, which flourished especially during the 1970s but somewhat disappeared later. But "Games..." is a masterpiece of the style and sports all the elements of it: a lot of close-ups, fly-on-the-wall observation method, minimal off-screen commentary, a lot of natural sound, minimal amount of off-screen music, minimal amount of self-censoring etc.

The movie is radical departure from hardcore artiness of "Visions of Eight" (the Munich olympic movie) and avoidance of cliches of classic olympic movies. It makes the film very unique. Even the slow motion is NEVER used! Only some brief special interviews and really as-less-as-possible off-screen informational comments are made (performed by classic 70s documentary film voice -- dry low baritone). Instead of them a lot of separate and even hidden camera footages are used.

The directors chose four athletes for more careful observation. Those are: Cuban sprinter Silvio Leonard, american decathlete Bruse Jenner, Soviet gymnast Nelly Kim and Hungarian pentathlete Tamás Kancsal. Reason is simple, they were all the favourites before the games. And as it turned out, 3 of them were really successfull, winning medals, two of them even golds. Three of them are very attractive and cinegenic too. Leonard is openly emotional, passionate, boyish, makes us compassionate towards him after a strange injury he gets. Jenner is powerful, good looking, talkative, easygoing and makes a really good comedic pair with his arch-rival, always silent but hilarious Mykola Avilov. Nelly Kim is extremely funny with her teenager's antics and shortcomings. Only Kancsal is almost autistic, never showing ANY emotion with his initial failures or even winning medal either. But with him are done some the most risque frames, the scenes where a nude male coach is giving a massage to naked Tamás.

But the film covers numerous other highlights of the olympics too, so no problem understanding what were the games about. Everything is done ultrarealistic way, so the movie is very close to even a time-machine. You can even imagine the smells in the events, all the emotions and mental power. Superb!

I loved this documentary on the Montreal Olympics! I particularly liked the "Marathon" story line and the music by Andre' Gagnon stirred the Olympic spirit within me. Whenever I would go running, I'd hear the music from this film in my head... imagining that I was competing in the Olympics! I have searched high and low to see this film again, but unfortunately I cannot find it anywhere! There is the soundtrack to the movie, "Running" with Michael Douglas that shares the same music - but it's not the same as this film by Bud Greenspan. I rarely leave comments on websites, but this documentary moved me greatly and I hope to someday find the opportunity to see it again!

The National Film Board of Canada films the Games of the XXI Olympiad in Montréal 1976. Back in the day, the games are broadcast on TV. This is meant to present everything beyond TV. It follows a few of the athletes trying to knit together complete experiences by the participants. I don't think that it achieves that. Caitlyn Jenner (Bruce at the time) has a big section. Chrystie Jenner with her blonde hair has plenty of camera time. This is a fairly traditional Olympics documentary. The most memorable scene may be the little kid who gets to lead a bicycle racing team. I'm sure those who remember it would recognize Nadia Comaneci and other athletes. The games had a boycott by 29 countries after the New Zealand national rugby union team toured South Africa. I don't expect many warts to be exposed in this government funded film although it couldn't hide the empty seats in many of the competitions. That's the big flaw here. The crowds are not always there which the film needs for intensity.

This documentary by the National Film Board of Canada takes us behind the scenes into the lives of the athletes and allows us to see them close up during the competitions. It is this proximity that sets this film apart from the other Olympic documentaries I have viewed. The whole thing is shot in black and white giving it a gritty realism. It also lacks the usual homage paid to the comeraderie that binds Olympic athletes together.

My overall impression is that this is an very good documentary of the men and women competing in the games; however, the final editing down of the massive amount of film does raise some questions and observations. The National Film Board, which is based in Montreal, was the obvious choice for this documentary. It has won numerous international awards for its excellence. The NFB does not produce glossy Hollywood style productions aimed at pulling in huge profits. Its purpose is artistic. As a result, we can appreciate the film for its style and its ability to get inside the minds of the athletes, who are totally focused on delivering what they are trained to do; that is to deliver the best they can against the strongest possible competition.

Some of the anti-establishment bias is seen here. There is barely a mention of Queen Elizabeth's presence or of her daughter Princess Anne, who competed in the equestrian events. The film also seems risqué by the standards of the time with the behind the scenes massages. There is no flag waving and the Canadian team, although the host country, gets little attention.

We do see Canadian Greg Joy place second to the Polish athlete who won the running high jump. There was a lot of drama in this competition from the Canadian perspective because the favourite, American Dwight Stones, finished third. The event took place in a heavy rain and this affected Stones performance. The Canadian crowd was ecstatic but there was very little narrative on this particular event, which was the high point of the Games for Canada. This compares to the extensive coverage of Bruce Jenner (now known as Caitlyn Jenner) in the decathlon both on and off the fields. He won the gold medal and there was a lot of media attention focused on him. But it hardly seemed necessary to focus so much film footage on his wife, who was cheering wildly in the ground level stands.

The production of this film owed much to the political and social climate in Canada at the time. The separatist party was on the rise and in November of that year, 1976, would win the provincial election in the province of Quebec, where the NFB staff are located, in Montreal. I attended a number of the events at this Olympics and know these games occurred in a very wet and cloudy summer in Eastern Canada. This adds to the gritty realism mentioned earlier. There was a cloud overhanging these games as well, given the enormous cost overruns, labour disputes and financial corruption. The stadium roof was not completed on time and an enormous crane stood above the immense stadium. The film did manage to omit embarrassing shots of the crane, a testimonial to the mismanagement. However, there was an underlying anger among many Canadians over the games.

This film gives a very poignant account of the games that may one day be subject to some interesting historical and political analysis. It is definitely worth watching as a series of vignettes seen by the film-makers. However, it is also offers some insight into the social And political landscape in 1976.