Criterion Challenge 202420. 100 Years of Olympic FilmsBud Greenspan’s Athens 2004: Stories of Olympic Glory
Criterion Collection’s 100 Years of Olympic Films: 1912-2012 is one of the big number releases from them that I wish I could have in my collection. The set, with fifty-three films contained within it, showcase some of the most glorious moments in the Olympic games. Criterion Channel has these films on their service, which is where I watched this film, but to have the actual set in my collection is something I hope to have one day.
Sports themselves make for great drama. It’s easy to set a singular competitor as protagonist and build a narrative around that. It’s man vs self, man vs other man, and man vs sport all in one. Bud Greenspan’s film does a great job at weaving these narratives alongside one another without a single one feeling stale, even with the outcome already known. The combination of narration with interviews from the athletes themselves form the framework by which Greenspan edits the footage from the games themselves, following each athlete from their prior attempts at Olympic gold to the 2004 Athens games, an event that is so significant given how important Athens is to Olympic history. Greenspan covers each event so seriously and with such weight. Fencing, weightlifting, swimming, track and field, women’s softball, and track cycling are focused on, with more pinpoint focus laid upon singular competitors. Most impressive is how Greenspan handles the track and field section of the film since that covers several events. The setup of several athletes early on and then covering their events semi-chronologically works so nicely, especially when having to come down from the high of seeing someone else win the gold so you can watch a different sport within the event.
Criterion Challenge 202420. 100 Years of Olympic FilmsBud Greenspan’s Athens 2004: Stories of Olympic Glory
Criterion Collection’s 100 Years of Olympic Films: 1912-2012 is one of the big number releases from them that I wish I could have in my collection. The set, with fifty-three films contained within it, showcase some of the most glorious moments in the Olympic games. Criterion Channel has these films on their service, which is where I watched this film, but to have the actual set in my collection is something I hope to have one day.
Sports themselves make for great drama. It’s easy to set a singular competitor as protagonist and build a narrative around that. It’s man vs self, man vs other man, and man vs sport all in one. Bud Greenspan’s film does a great job at weaving these narratives alongside one another without a single one feeling stale, even with the outcome already known. The combination of narration with interviews from the athletes themselves form the framework by which Greenspan edits the footage from the games themselves, following each athlete from their prior attempts at Olympic gold to the 2004 Athens games, an event that is so significant given how important Athens is to Olympic history. Greenspan covers each event so seriously and with such weight. Fencing, weightlifting, swimming, track and field, women’s softball, and track cycling are focused on, with more pinpoint focus laid upon singular competitors. Most impressive is how Greenspan handles the track and field section of the film since that covers several events. The setup of several athletes early on and then covering their events semi-chronologically works so nicely, especially when having to come down from the high of seeing someone else win the gold so you can watch a different sport within the event.
