Directed by Giorgio Ferroni • 1956 • Italy
WHITE VERTIGO is one of the unexpected jewels of this Olympic films collection. The cinematography is by none other than Aldo Scavarda, who would film L'AVVENTURA for Michelangelo Antonioni three and a half years later. Director Giorgio Ferroni knows how to film the key disciplines, even if they are far removed from his specialties, the sword- and-sandal and pulp fiction genres. The music, by the prolific Angelo Francesco Lavagnino (OTHELLO and CHIMES AT MIDNIGHT), audaciously uses jazz piano to accompany the ice hockey matches, bringing a lyrical mood to a sport that in other Olympic Games documentaries is portrayed in ferocious terms.
Up Next in 100 Years of Olympic Films: 1912–2012
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Olympic Games, 1956
Directed by Peter Whitchurch • 1956 • Australia
OLYMPIC GAMES, 1956, directed by the documentarist Peter Whitchurch, was commissioned by the Organizing Committee for these Olympic Games. Historically, the film points to some encouraging situations in international affairs, with Hungary taking pa...
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The Melbourne Rendez-vous
Directed by René Lucot • 1957 • France
Of the two feature endeavors made around the Games of the XVI Olympiad in 1956, THE MELBOURNE RENDEZ-VOUS, directed by René Lucot, excels. Its tone is more observant and more inquiring than that of most Olympic films. Shooting in Agfacolor, Lucot and his cr...
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Alain Mimoun
Directed by Louis Gueguen • 1959 • France
ALAIN MIMOUN, a short film made about the titular long-distance runner, is a jewel of a documentary, enhanced by a wonderfully laid-back jazz score by Alain Goraguer.
