switzerland, 1948, frenchA much funnier, and lighthearted, style of Olympics documentary. The times continue to change, and the films change with them. I really enjoyed this one, in spite of its abhorrent sexist commentary.
ANDRÉ MICHEL
Fight Without Hate
This documentary, covering the 1948 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, was the first made after the end of World War II. The 1940 and 1944 games had been canceled due to the fighting. It’s probably only natural then, that the film is so interested in showing a counterbalance between competition and war. It starts with the title, of course, but the entire film feels like its goal is to show that nations can come together for a different, and much nicer, form of battle.
As a result, and also possibly due to the changing of the times, this is a much goofier entry than any that proceed it. The narration that runs the length of the film tells its own meta story, of a sexist sports commentator and his wife. A lot of the banter is fun and funny, but the blatant sexism did wear heavily on me. Luckily, it was only a minimal part of the narrative. Mostly we just got a bunch of corny jokes, and a lot of interesting tidbits.
The lightness of the whole thing, especially after the weight of something like Olympia, was extremely refreshing. It’s so nice to see a film in this series that doesn’t take itself too seriously. Ultimately, the Olympics are a glorious spectacle, and this film embraced that idea more than any previously. It was also wonderful to see more footage from the absolutely beautiful St. Moritz. These films have rocketed it up my list of places I would like to visit someday, it looks spectacular.