The Olympics in Mexico

The film catches the spirit of 1968. The glance is on the individual against odds and the joy of sport, not -as in previous olympic films and as the mexican government expected- in the "greatness", the solemnity of ceremonies or the "participation" of the masses. It is also the first olympic film to take a deep look on losers: the scene of the arrival of the last marathonian made a breakthrough on the way we look at sports. Or film them. It could have given a critical view of the events before the games (the massacre in Tlatelolco), but was constrained by its' sponsor: the government. Anyway, in Mexico young guys liked it, but it was abhorred by older folks.