''Visions of Eight'' is a 1973 American

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...

offering a stylized look at the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. ...

. Produced by Stan Margulies and executive produced by

David L. Wolper David Lloyd Wolper (January 11, 1928 – August 10, 2010) was an American television and film producer, responsible for shows such as ''Roots'', '' The Thorn Birds'', and ''North and South'', and the theatrically-released films ''L.A. Confiden ...

, it was directed by eight directors. It was screened out-of-competition at the 1973 Cannes Film Festival. It was later shown as part of the Cannes Classics section of the

2013 Cannes Film Festival The 66th Cannes Film Festival took place in Cannes, France, from 15 to 26 May 2013. Steven Spielberg was the head of the jury for the main competition. New Zealand film director Jane Campion was the head of the jury for the Cinéfondation and S ...

. Some visuals of the Munich stadium from the documentary were used in ''

Without Limits ''Without Limits'' is a 1998 American biographical sports film. It is written and directed by Robert Towne and follows the relationship between record-breaking distance runner Steve Prefontaine and his coach Bill Bowerman, who later co-founded ...

''.

Production

Wolper asked eight directors to select their own crews and create a segment which would capture some aspect of the Munich Games. * Yuri Ozerov directed ''The Beginning'' *

Mai Zetterling Mai Elisabeth Zetterling (; 24 May 1925 – 17 March 1994) was a Swedish film director, novelist and actor. Early life Zetterling was born in Västerås, Sweden to a working class family. She started her career as an actor at the age of 17 at D ...

directed ''The Strongest'' *

Arthur Penn Arthur Hiller Penn (September 27, 1922 – September 28, 2010) was an American director and producer of film, television and theater. Closely associated with the American New Wave, Penn directed critically acclaimed films throughout the 19 ...

directed ''The Highest'' *

Michael Pfleghar Michael Pfleghar (20 March 1933 – 23 June 1991) was a German film director and screenwriter. He directed 17 films between 1958 and 1987. He died of suicide. Selected filmography * ''Dead Woman from Beverly Hills'' (1964) * '' Serenade for ...

directed ''The Women'' *

Kon Ichikawa was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. His work displays a vast range in genre and style, from the anti-war films '' The Burmese Harp'' (1956) and '' Fires on the Plain'' (1959), to the documentary '' Tokyo Olympiad'' (1965), which won ...

directed ''The Fastest'' * Miloš Forman directed ''The

Decathlon The decathlon is a combined event in Athletics (sport), athletics consisting of ten track and field events. The word "decathlon" was formed, in analogy to the word "pentathlon", from Greek language, Greek δέκα (''déka'', meaning "ten") and ...

'' *

Claude Lelouch Claude Barruck Joseph Lelouch (; born 30 October 1937) is a French film director, screenwriter, writer, cinematographer, actor and film producer, producer. Lelouch grew up in an Algerian Jewish Family. He emerged as a prominent director in the 1 ...

directed ''The Losers'' *

John Schlesinger John Richard Schlesinger (; 16 February 1926 – 25 July 2003) was an English film and stage director. He won the Academy Award for Best Director for ''Midnight Cowboy'', and was nominated for the same award for two other films ('' Darling'' an ...

directed ''The Longest''

Alan Hume Alan Hume, (16 October 1924 – 13 July 2010) was an English cinematographer. Life and career Hume arrived at Denham Film Studios in 1942, and worked for Cineguild Productions during the late 1940s. His early credits, prior to being called up t ...

shot the segment ''The Fastest'' for director

. Arthur Wooster shot ''The Longest'' for director

, and

Walter Lassally Walter Lassally (18 December 1926 – 23 October 2017) was a German-born British cinematographer. He won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography in 1965 for the film ''Zorba the Greek''. Life and work Walter Lassally was born in Berlin, Germa ...

directed the photography for

's segment ''The Highest''.

Reception

''Visions of Eight'' won the best documentary award at the Golden Globe Awards, held in 1974 for films which were released in 1973. Peter Rainer of

Bloomberg News Bloomberg News (originally Bloomberg Business News) is an international news agency headquartered in New York City and a division of Bloomberg L.P. Content produced by Bloomberg News is disseminated through Bloomberg Terminals, Bloomberg Televi ...

wrote that, "Schlesinger’s is the only segment that fully acknowledges the Black September

terrorist attacks The following is a list of terrorist incidents that have not been carried out by a state or its forces (see state terrorism and state-sponsored terrorism). Assassinations are listed at List of assassinated people. Definitions of terrori ...

, in which 11 Israeli athletes and coaches, and a West German policeman, were murdered." Rainer continues, "Penn’s entry begins daringly. Not only is the imagery a slo-mo crawl, it’s also out of focus and the soundtrack is silent. Gradually the visuals sharpen, the stadium sounds come up, but, for the most part, the pole vaulters rising into the sky remain superslow abstractions. Along with his great editor

Dede Allen Dorothea Corothers "Dede" Allen (December 3, 1923 – April 17, 2010) This obituary incorrectly states that she was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, which was subsequently acknowledged in an online correction. was an American film editor, well-known " ...

, who cut ''

Bonnie and Clyde Bonnie Elizabeth Parker (October 1, 1910May 23, 1934) and Clyde Chestnut (Champion) Barrow (March 24, 1909May 23, 1934) were an American criminal couple who traveled the Central United States with their gang during the Great Depression. The co ...

'', Penn anatomizes the action without ever losing sight of the fact that these athletes, including USA’s Bob Seagren, are men and not gods (as Riefenstahl might have us believe)" — referring to

Leni Riefenstahl Helene Bertha Amalie "Leni" Riefenstahl (; 22 August 1902 – 8 September 2003) was a German film director, photographer and actress known for her role in producing Nazi propaganda. A talented swimmer and an artist, Riefenstahl also became in ...

's 1938 documentary '' Olympia''. Rainer sees French director Claude Lelouch's segment as a welcome contrast to the other directors' worshipful heroic depictions: "Lelouch’s ''The Losers'' ... shows us a boxer who rants in the ring after his defeat; wrestlers gamely trying to fight after tearing ligaments and dislocating limbs; swimmers treading befuddled in the pool after their last losing lap."

Availability

It is available at

the Criterion Collection The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films." Criterion serves film and media scholars, cinep ...

as part of the ''100 Years of Olympic Films'' box set. It became available as a standalone release on June 22, 2021.

References

External links

* * *
''Visions of Eight: Time and Motion''
an essay by

Sam Lipsyte Sam Lipsyte (born 1968) is an American novelist and short story writer. Life The son of the sports journalist Robert Lipsyte, Sam Lipsyte was born in New York City and raised in Closter, New Jersey, where he attended Northern Valley Regional Hi ...

at the

Criterion Collection The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films." Criterion serves film and media scholars, cinep ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Visions Of Eight 1973 films 1973 documentary films American anthology films American sports documentary films Documentary films about the Olympics Films about the 1972 Summer Olympics Films directed by Miloš Forman Films directed by Claude Lelouch Films directed by Yuri Ozerov Films directed by Mai Zetterling Films directed by Kon Ichikawa Films directed by John Schlesinger Films directed by Arthur Penn Films directed by Michael Pfleghar Films scored by Henry Mancini Films set in Munich Films shot in Germany Munich massacre The Wolper Organization films 1970s English-language films 1970s American films