Directed by Kon Ichikawa • 1965 • Japan
A spectacle of magnificent proportions and remarkable intimacy, Kon Ichikawa’s TOKYO OLYMPIAD remains one of the greatest films ever made about sports. Supervising a vast team of technicians using scores of cameras, Ichikawa captured the 1964 Summer Games in Tokyo in glorious widescreen images, using cutting-edge telephoto lenses and exquisite slow motion to create lyrical, idiosyncratic poetry from the athletic drama surging all around him. Drawn equally to the psychology of losers and winners—including the legendary Ethiopian marathoner Abebe Bikila, who receives the film’s most exalted tribute—Ichikawa captures the triumph, passion, and suffering of competition with a singular humanistic vision, and in doing so effected a transformative influence on the art of documentary filmmaking.
Up Next in Directed by Kon Ichikawa
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Visions of Eight
Directed by Miloš Forman, Kon Ichikawa, Claude Lelouch, Yuri Ozerov, Arthur Penn, Michael Pfleghar, John Schlesinger, and Mai Zetterling • 1973 • United States
In Munich in 1972, eight renowned filmmakers each brought their singular artistry to the spectacle of the Olympic Games, capturing the j...
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The Makioka Sisters
Directed by Kon Ichikawa • 1983 • Japan
Starring Yoshiko Sakuma, Sayuri Yoshinaga, Yuko KotegawaThis lyrical adaptation of the beloved novel by Junichiro Tanizaki was a late-career triumph for director Kon Ichikawa. Structured around the changing of the seasons, THE MAKIOKA SISTERS (SASAME-YUKI...
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Princess from the Moon
Directed by Kon Ichikawa • 1987 • Japan
When a husband and wife discover a baby girl in a strange, golden pod next to the grave of their daughter, they decide to adopt her. It is not until years later, when she has chosen a suitor, that her mysterious origins and destiny are revealed...
