#olympiske vinterleker

[project1939]

200 Films of 1952

Film number 193: De VI Olympiske Vinterleker Oslo 1952 (aka, The VI Winter Olympics, Oslo 1952)

Release date: October 31st, 1952 

Studio: Norsk Film 

Genre: documentary 

Director: Tancred Ibsen 

Actors: Hjalmar “Hjallis” Andersen, King Olav V 

Plot Summary: This is a documentary about the 1952 Winter Olympics in Oslo, Norway.  

My Rating (out of five stars): ***¼  

If you’re looking for an artistic documentary about the Olympics with in-depth coverage of specific athletes and their stories, this is not the film for you. It is a rather dry and straightforward overview of the proceedings and events that occurred in Oslo in 1952. It’s wonderful as a historical record, but a thrilling watch it is not. 

The Good: 

The print I saw was in great condition. You can find it for free online on the Olympics website. 

This is priceless as a history of the event.  

It was fun to notice the differences in the ceremonies. There were only 30 countries competing! 

The glimpses of the crowds were probably my favorite part. I loved seeing details like some people wearing extra knitted foot warmers around their boots.

The speed skating sprints were the most exciting event for me. 

I was impressed with the athleticism of the men’s figure skating. The sport has certainly become more difficult today, but the difference wasn’t as big as I imagined. 

The way the compulsory figure skating routines were judged was trippy to me. All the judges stood on the ice close to the skater while they performed, and afterwards, part of what they judged was the marks the skater left on the ice! 

The bob sled races were really entertaining- it looked like the entire chute was made of ice. 

The ski jump finale was probably the highlight. The soaring athletes were watched by a crowd of 140,000 people! 

The Bad: 

The narrator was pretty monotone. 

It often felt like an extended newsreel. 

It got kind of repetitive after a while, probably because it felt so much like a newsreel. It also didn’t help that every event was either some kind of skating or some kind of skiing. 

It was clearly shot silently, and sound was added in later. The film did a decent job making the audio feel realistic, but it was still obvious it wasn't the authentic sound. 

It would have been nice if we had gotten to know some of the athletes. There were no interviews, and we were given no information about them other than their names and if they had won anything before.

There was a moment of ick when the narrator was describing a Japanese ski jumper- “An Oriental performance by Japan’s Kawashima shows us that the Children of the Sun can now jump too.” 

Was there also a stereotyping dig at North Americans in there? When speaking of hockey players, the North Americans were described as being especially prone to fights and violence on the ice, compared to their European competitors. This probably has truth in it, but the narrator's tone made it feel like a dig about how unrefined Americans and Canadians are!

[vargas1212]

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