Save this article to read it later.
Find this story in your accountsSaved for Latersection.
Tokyo had big plans to host the Summer Olympic Games in 1940. you’re free to probably see where this is going.
Tokyos 2020 Summer Olympics were swept aside and postponed by a global pandemic.
The planned film, to be directed by Naomi Kawase, was obviously canceled.
If the they go on as planned, foreign spectators will not be allowed.
The tennis stars Serena Williams and Rafael Nadal are among the athletes who remain uncommitted.
One wonders what shell do for audience reactions, which were handled so lyrically inTokyo Olympiad.
This makes Ichikawas democratic approach all the more noteworthy.
His cameras are curious about national pride, but rarely for the sake of merely bolstering his own nation.
Sometimes defeat is agony, but just as often its something more relatable: exhaustion.
If theres a theme toTokyo Olympiad,its this: The athletes are people, not superheroes.
And people have limits.
The editing and camerawork in Ichikawas film are outstanding for the period, Cowie writes.
Perhaps more surprising, its afunfilm.
This, apparently, was not what the Japanese Olympic Committee had in mind.
But Ichikawa clearly loves what others might consider throwaway moments, even when they involve high-profile champions.
Its not just Ichikawa whos in top form here.
Toshiro Mayuzumis score is somehow both frisky and ominous, like something you might hear in aMission: Impossiblemovie.
In short,Tokyo Olympiadhas personality, a quality not often associated with officially sanctioned filmmaking.
Nearly 60 years later,Tokyo Olympiadremains a visual symphony firing on all cylinders.
The stands are full.
The country is ecstatic.
The athletes are glad to be there.
Let the Games begin, again.
