:00:00. > :00:21.Now on BBC News, a Talking Movies Sports Special.
:00:22. > :00:24.Hello, and welcome to Talking Movies.
:00:25. > :00:39.In today's programme, as the Olympic Games draws
:00:40. > :00:42.to a close, we look at how cinema has often used this international
:00:43. > :00:45.sports extravaganza as the backdrop to explore a wide range of issues.
:00:46. > :00:48.And we also revisit a much loved Olympic sports from which shines
:00:49. > :00:58.a light on a country overlooked by mainstream movies.
:00:59. > :01:02.And, as the Olympics come to an end, blockbuster season will shortly be
:01:03. > :01:06.So we are reviewing the season's highs and lows on finding out
:01:07. > :01:08.what you, the public, mode of it all.
:01:09. > :01:15.Plus two of the smallest pictures to have seen the light of day
:01:16. > :01:18.All that and more, in this edition of Talking Movies.
:01:19. > :01:20.Historically, many films have used the Olympic Games not just
:01:21. > :01:22.to explore the sporting extravaganza itself,
:01:23. > :01:25.but also to cast a light on a wide range of issues.
:01:26. > :01:27.Everything from anti-Semitism to racism, to matters of gender
:01:28. > :01:29.and terrorism have been dealt with in different Olympic
:01:30. > :01:40.Talking Movies has been exploring this trend.
:01:41. > :01:45.To many, one of the greatest movies to use the Olympic Games
:01:46. > :02:01.as a backdrop is the Oscar-winning Chariots Of Fire.
:02:02. > :02:04.It's set in the early 1920s, with a story that touched on among
:02:05. > :02:10.other things anti-Semitism, as do the German Olympic Games
:02:11. > :02:19.Set in 1936, which also deals with gender issues.
:02:20. > :02:21.And Race patrolled the racism confronting
:02:22. > :02:23.four-time gold medal winner African American Jesse Owens,
:02:24. > :02:34.Where is it that Olympic Games themed films so often turn
:02:35. > :02:37.Because I think the Olympics are heightened, it's international,
:02:38. > :02:40.so it just sets the scene for all kinds of drama to play out,
:02:41. > :02:42.and all kinds of issues to be discussed.
:02:43. > :02:45.But just how accurate are these films which are often
:02:46. > :02:48.The athletes of the Israeli team are being held prisoner...
:02:49. > :02:50.Munich, released in 2005, directed by Steven Spielberg,
:02:51. > :02:52.begins with the Palestinian militant group Black September holding
:02:53. > :02:55.athletes hostage at the 1972 Munich summer Olympics.
:02:56. > :02:58.Former Israeli agent Juval Aviv, whose story is said to have inspired
:02:59. > :03:01.Munich, maintains the film is precise in its portrayal of events.
:03:02. > :03:08.Although I spent time with Spielberg discussing a lot of it,
:03:09. > :03:19.When I finally saw the movie - I had a special screening for myself
:03:20. > :03:21.and my family - I went through two boxes of tissues.
:03:22. > :03:42.Because it was really going back and reliving the whole of it again.
:03:43. > :03:44.Irrespective of their factual accuracy, some of these
:03:45. > :03:51.issue-oriented Olympic Games films still have topical relevance.
:03:52. > :03:54.Chariots Of Fire depicted a form of polite or gentleman's
:03:55. > :03:56.anti-Semitism, existing in a world where discrimination
:03:57. > :04:00.Gentleman's anti-Semitism is maybe not as both on and maybe not
:04:01. > :04:03.Gentleman's anti-Semitism is maybe not as brazen and maybe not
:04:04. > :04:06.as violent in its manifestation, but at its core it is as ugly
:04:07. > :04:11.Low-level bubbling of anti-Semitism in the film is equitable with what's
:04:12. > :04:12.happening now in terms of anti-Islamic
:04:13. > :04:16.Do these films, which often deal with some quite urgent problems,
:04:17. > :04:23.make a difference, or are they just dismissed as entertainment?
:04:24. > :04:30.One of the main ways in which these pictures can make an impact
:04:31. > :04:35.Munich got a lot of people talking, it certainly was
:04:36. > :04:49.Certainly many people either never knew or had forgotten about what had
:04:50. > :04:53.It's one of the best movies about the global war on terror,
:04:54. > :05:03.even though it was about an event that happened earlier.
:05:04. > :05:05.Claims are also made for Chariots Of Fire, and it sparked
:05:06. > :05:08.The message in these Olympic Games related films
:05:09. > :05:12.Chariots Of Fire is probably not remembered for its depiction
:05:13. > :05:14.of gentleman's anti-Semitism, but much more because of its
:05:15. > :05:26.MUSIC: Chariots of Fire Theme by Vangelis.
:05:27. > :05:28.Films about the Olympics also offer
:05:29. > :05:39.an opportunity to direct global attention to nations often
:05:40. > :05:42.Two decades ago, Hollywood discovered one of the greatest
:05:43. > :05:45.underdog sports stories of all time, in a place that no one expected.
:05:46. > :06:05.If you were a child in the early 1990s, you will immediately
:06:06. > :06:11.recognise this joyful refrain from Cool Runnings,
:06:12. > :06:14.a hit film based on the true story of the first Jamaican bobsled team.
:06:15. > :06:18.The plot is an amalgam of winning formulas.
:06:19. > :06:20.A heart-warming fish out of water comedy,
:06:21. > :06:23.It follows a team of Jamaican sprinters, who,
:06:24. > :06:26.after missing out on the chance to represent their country in track
:06:27. > :06:29.and field, turn to the bobsled in a last-ditch effort to make
:06:30. > :06:31.They recruit a disgraced American bobsled coach,
:06:32. > :06:34.played by John Candy in one of his last roles,
:06:35. > :06:38.To the words "Give up" mean anything to you?
:06:39. > :06:42.The film remains the second highest grossing Olympic
:06:43. > :06:45.And its success is due to the effectiveness
:06:46. > :06:48.They Jamaican bobsled team feels like the apotheosis
:06:49. > :06:52.But what separates Cool Runnings from other forms of its kind
:06:53. > :06:53.is its heavy dose of Caribbean flavour.
:06:54. > :06:56.In fact, the film is one of the most prominent depictions
:06:57. > :06:58.of Jamaican culture ever to hit the silver screen.
:06:59. > :07:01.A fact not lost on the Jamaican born director of a new documentary,
:07:02. > :07:04.The Price Of Memory, which explores the legacy of slavery
:07:05. > :07:09.The movie was telling a very Jamaican story in a way that
:07:10. > :07:12.Before, Jamaica would be a location in a movie.
:07:13. > :07:14.Like, you know, people from Hollywood, Tom Cruise
:07:15. > :07:17.or whoever, would be on vacation somewhere or in love somewhere,
:07:18. > :07:21.and a Jamaican would be somebody giving them a drink or an extra.
:07:22. > :07:28.But with this one it was a film that's telling a Jamaican story,
:07:29. > :07:30.it's about that struggle to achieve some kind of success.
:07:31. > :07:33.Before that, most of the time people would see Jamaica, the rastas,
:07:34. > :07:36.or a reggae movie like Rockers, The Harder They Come and so on.
:07:37. > :07:39.But this wasn't about positions, it was about regular people.
:07:40. > :07:46.And these regular people were athletes.
:07:47. > :07:49.So I think it showed a broader image of what Jamaicans could be.
:07:50. > :07:52.You need winter as in igloos and Eskimos and penguins and ice?
:07:53. > :07:55.The athletes in the film face numerous challenges.
:07:56. > :07:57.They are unaccustomed to the freezing cold weather,
:07:58. > :08:00.and they can't afford a decent bobsled for training.
:08:01. > :08:02.They also face subtle racism from the Olympic establishment,
:08:03. > :08:05.who refuse to take their bid for athletic achievement seriously.
:08:06. > :08:20.Cool Runnings opened here in New York in October of 1993,
:08:21. > :08:28.and in the years since it has earned a significant legacy.
:08:29. > :08:32.Olympians of a certain age frequently cite the film as an early
:08:33. > :08:40.inspiration for their dreams of athletic excellence.
:08:41. > :08:43.A Swedish skier even carried in his pocket an egg
:08:44. > :08:46.during his trial run in Sochi, just like one of the characters
:08:47. > :08:58.But not everyone is convinced Cool Runnings deserves its accolades.
:08:59. > :09:00.It's one of those weird cultural oddities that's
:09:01. > :09:03.A movie about a Jamaican bobsled team.
:09:04. > :09:12.There have been a million romantic comedies where, you know,
:09:13. > :09:38.There's one movie in which John Candy
:09:39. > :09:39.played the world's unlikeliest bobsled coach.
:09:40. > :09:42.And a bunch of all actors that no one heard of before
:09:43. > :09:44.or since, you know, played the odd bobsled team.
:09:45. > :09:46.And because of this sort of accumulation of oddities,
:09:47. > :09:54.And we live in a sort of been at a where memorability equates
:09:55. > :09:58.And we live in a sort of time where memorability equates
:09:59. > :10:05.equates to quality - that's just not so.
:10:06. > :10:07.Even if Cool Runnings seems to some more of a novelty
:10:08. > :10:10.than a piece of fine cinema, it may be remembered as one
:10:11. > :10:13.of the last Olympics themed movies to be a genuine blockbuster.
:10:14. > :10:15.It's not a profitable job these days.
:10:16. > :10:17.With the lead up to this year's Olympics tainted
:10:18. > :10:24.by scandal and criticism, from Russian doping to sewage-
:10:25. > :10:28.Cool Runnings does feel like a relic from a more optimistic era,
:10:29. > :10:54.when the Games represented the best athletics had to offer.
:10:55. > :10:56.Now we go to look back at blockbuster season
:10:57. > :10:59.as it draws to a close, both the highs and lows.
:11:00. > :11:01.To be honest, blockbuster season 2016 hasn't the greatest.
:11:02. > :11:04.But what were some of the favourites bringing in the crowds?
:11:05. > :11:05.We sampled opinion is on the streets.
:11:06. > :11:11.Oh, this summer I saw Captain Fantastic, I thought
:11:12. > :11:30.To discuss blockbuster season more fully, I enlisted the help of screen
:11:31. > :11:40.Crush editor in chief and film critic Matt Singer.
:11:41. > :11:43.One film that has done really well is Captain America,
:11:44. > :11:46.why has that been drawing people in, do you think?
:11:47. > :11:50.Well, I think Captain America movie did well because number one,
:11:51. > :11:53.it's the latest Marvel movie and all of Marvel's movie so far
:11:54. > :11:57.And it really delivered in the "More is more" department
:11:58. > :12:01.There have been a lot of familiar sequels this year.
:12:02. > :12:03.Have any films broken new ground at all?
:12:04. > :12:06.I'm struggling to think of one, I mean I think what's gone wrong
:12:07. > :12:09.is you see a lot of sequels that people don't really want.
:12:10. > :12:11.That's where the formula seems to have kind of faltered.
:12:12. > :12:13.Sure, people want to see another Captain America,
:12:14. > :12:18.and I think they're want even for the most part a new Star Trek,
:12:19. > :12:27.but then you get into things like Independence Day: Resurgence,
:12:28. > :12:29.do people want to see another Independence Day especially
:12:30. > :12:40.Do people really want to see another Snow White and the Huntsman movie,
:12:41. > :12:43.but without Snow White and just the Huntsman?
:12:44. > :12:46.Do people really want to see another Snow White and the Huntsman movie,
:12:47. > :12:48.but without Snow White and just the Huntsman?
:12:49. > :12:50.I don't know that they necessarily did.
:12:51. > :12:53.But there has been a female driven Ghostbusters, did that work?
:12:54. > :12:58.You know, I like the Ghostbusters movie, Ghostbusters is something
:12:59. > :13:00.that I grew up loving as a kid, and I found that
:13:01. > :13:03.while they were a little too slavishly devoted to making
:13:04. > :13:05.references and jokes and cameos to the movie,
:13:06. > :13:08.a bit like when the new movie just let these women be funny together,
:13:09. > :13:14.These are tumultuous times politically.
:13:15. > :13:16.At any films played into that at all in the zeitgeist?
:13:17. > :13:19.The villain in that movie, played by Idris Elba,
:13:20. > :13:21.everything he represents spick spurt what's going on.
:13:22. > :13:23.When he comes into contact with the enterprise crew,
:13:24. > :13:26.he constantly remind them that the fact that they like to work
:13:27. > :13:29.together, that there are diverse, that makes them with.
:13:30. > :13:31.This idea that political unions, like the European Union,
:13:32. > :13:33.are ultimately the things that will destroy us, that we need
:13:34. > :13:36.to exclude outsiders, that we need to protect ourselves.
:13:37. > :13:41.Those are the ideas that are at the centre of that movie,
:13:42. > :13:43.around all the explosions and fights and chases.
:13:44. > :13:45.The fear of death is what keeps us alive.
:13:46. > :13:47.What about the biggest disasters of blockbuster season,
:13:48. > :13:52.In terms of creatively, to be the biggest disasters have
:13:53. > :13:54.been movies like The Legend of Tarzan which is another
:13:55. > :13:56.movie that's actually done decent at the box office,
:13:57. > :14:00.but for the life of me I could not understand who the audience
:14:01. > :14:02.was for a new Tarzan movie that doesn't really do much
:14:03. > :14:05.The Independence Day sequel was just dreadful.
:14:06. > :14:08.And I was very excited for Suicide Squad, and to be
:14:09. > :14:12.disappointment and one that feels like it was hacked to pieces
:14:13. > :14:15.in the editing room and I'm not sure exactly what the process
:14:16. > :14:17.of making the movie was, but it's a very disappointing,
:14:18. > :14:19.very frustrating movie, in a season that's been
:14:20. > :14:24.Do think that Hollywood studios are going to pay attention to what's
:14:25. > :14:27.happened this summer, have a degree think about the strategy,
:14:28. > :14:29.happened this summer, have a big rethink about
:14:30. > :14:31.the strategy, and perhaps launch a new breed of films,
:14:32. > :14:36.I'm very curious to see how Hollywood response to this summer,
:14:37. > :14:38.I'm very curious to see how Hollywood responds to this summer,
:14:39. > :14:45.because while there have been a lot of hits, I think there has been
:14:46. > :14:48.a lot of general indifference if not outright antipathy towards a lot
:14:49. > :14:52.If the summer of 2017 is like this one, the summer
:14:53. > :14:55.of 2018 is not much better, they are good to have two come up
:14:56. > :14:58.with some new ideas, because at the moment the old ideas
:14:59. > :15:02.And now on to some smaller highlights of blockbuster season,
:15:03. > :15:04.And now on to some smaller highlights of blockbuster season -
:15:05. > :15:07.films at the other end of the spectrum, made modestly,
:15:08. > :15:09.but didn't often get their fair share of the limelight
:15:10. > :15:11.but that we here at Talking Movies covered.
:15:12. > :15:13.First up is Under The Sun, a documentary co-sponsored
:15:14. > :15:16.by North Korea, which didn't quite work out the way officials expected.
:15:17. > :15:18.North Korean officials thought Vitaly Mansky was playing
:15:19. > :15:21.by the rules when he shot the documentary Under The Sun.
:15:22. > :15:24.The Russian film-maker was supposed to chronicle the life of a typical
:15:25. > :15:28.But for Mansky, the behind-the-scenes reality
:15:29. > :15:31.of life in North Korea was what he wanted audiences to see.
:15:32. > :15:33.TRANSLATION: From the first to the last frame of the film,
:15:34. > :15:36.Everything is staged, if you look closely.
:15:37. > :15:38.So the only true thing about this film is this
:15:39. > :15:40.is the actual family: mother, father and the girl.
:15:41. > :15:43.According to Mansky, the family was given a script to follow.
:15:44. > :15:46.The script was written by North Korean officials and each
:15:47. > :15:52.Mansky says there were even handlers for his film crew.
:15:53. > :15:57.TRANSLATION: There was control from the very first moment.
:15:58. > :16:03.At the airport, passports were taken away.
:16:04. > :16:14.The people who supervised us stayed with us at the same hotel.
:16:15. > :16:18.And at the end of every day, we had to submit the footage.
:16:19. > :16:20.But the footage he submitted to North Korean
:16:21. > :16:24.TRANSLATION: During the short period between the end of the shooting
:16:25. > :16:27.and going to the hotel, we had to find time and place
:16:28. > :16:29.and opportunity to copy and delete the footage
:16:30. > :16:35.Sometimes it was done in the bathroom.
:16:36. > :16:38.The risk of Mansky's actions are not lost on him.
:16:39. > :16:40.TRANSLATION: Months ago, an American student was arrested
:16:41. > :16:43.in North Korea for the simple fact of taking a propaganda sign off
:16:44. > :16:54.He was sentenced to 15 years in jail.
:16:55. > :16:57.So you can imagine what their reaction was to what we've done.
:16:58. > :17:00.Mansky is not the first film-maker to covertly film and smuggle footage
:17:01. > :17:03.In fact, there are rogue citizen journalists who operate
:17:04. > :17:16.But what makes Mansky unique is the fact that he was authorised
:17:17. > :17:22.by the North Korean government, and managed to dupe officials
:17:23. > :17:24.in spite of surveillance, by recording in between these
:17:25. > :17:28.For Mansky, the film would prove that concern over Under The Sun
:17:29. > :17:30.wasn't just unique to North Korea and Russia.
:17:31. > :17:36.In fact, in 2014 a large-scale hack of the e-mails of Sony executives
:17:37. > :17:39.was thought to be in retaliation for the company's release of a film
:17:40. > :17:40.about North Korea called The Interview.
:17:41. > :17:42.It has been reported that fear of similar
:17:43. > :17:45.reprisal has caused at least one film festival in the US to drop
:17:46. > :17:56.But when Mike Maggiore, the programmer at
:17:57. > :18:10.New York's non-profit Film Forum saw the film,
:18:11. > :18:18.He knew what he had to do. They took great risks begin this
:18:19. > :18:23.back, and we had to share it with our audiences. I thought it was a
:18:24. > :18:28.candid look at a society that has been hidden from Western eyes, and I
:18:29. > :18:41.think what it shows us is that this is a society that is constantly
:18:42. > :18:46.overwhelmed by a drive to be obedient and there is a propaganda
:18:47. > :18:51.drilled into every citizen in the private and public spheres at all
:18:52. > :18:56.times. In spite of its rocky beginnings, the film has been
:18:57. > :19:01.nominated a time and 14 awards so far all over the world. Proving once
:19:02. > :19:07.again that audiences are fascinated by what is working behind the
:19:08. > :19:11.curtain. In an age when movies are consumed
:19:12. > :19:17.on tablets and mobile phones there is a very different way of movie
:19:18. > :19:21.watching. At least in India. It is the travelling cinema, mobile
:19:22. > :19:27.cinemas that go to different rural communities. But it is a dying
:19:28. > :19:38.tradition. As we discovered at a documentary shown at the Cannes film
:19:39. > :19:43.Festival earlier this year. Two ended film makers put together this
:19:44. > :19:48.documentary. They launched the film at the Cannes film Festival. More
:19:49. > :19:52.than anything else, this is a documentary that shines a light on
:19:53. > :19:57.the huge significance of cinema in rural India, by focusing on
:19:58. > :20:02.travelling, mobile theatres. There used to be the only way for movies
:20:03. > :20:06.to reach the villagers. And they were also significant --
:20:07. > :20:12.significantly embedded in the cultural tradition of India. So
:20:13. > :20:16.apart from being the exclusive vehicles in a sense of the
:20:17. > :20:21.experience of the movies. -- they were also a part of the ritual that
:20:22. > :20:26.families have been showing -- following for so many years. The
:20:27. > :20:30.heyday of the travelling cinema 's is most definitely over. By one
:20:31. > :20:34.estimate, nowadays they number in the single digits. The decline has
:20:35. > :20:43.been hastened by digital technology, which has given communities
:20:44. > :20:47.everywhere quicker access to movies. People can now access films not only
:20:48. > :20:55.through DVDs but also through their mobile phones. Films find their way
:20:56. > :21:02.into cellphones, and that is why people are drawn more to this
:21:03. > :21:05.because they want to see the film is quicker than everyone else, so less
:21:06. > :21:14.and less people are going to the travelling cinema 's. -- cinemas.
:21:15. > :21:17.This documentary looks at the decline of travelling cinema is by
:21:18. > :21:23.focusing on individuals affected by the industry's transition from old
:21:24. > :21:26.celluloid projectors to their new digital counterparts. The film tells
:21:27. > :21:32.the story of three custodians who are striving to preserve one of the
:21:33. > :21:36.last travelling cinemas in the world. We encounter them at this
:21:37. > :21:41.moment when their world is changing in a fundamental way, and the film
:21:42. > :21:52.uses this as a lens to look at the associations that these custodians
:21:53. > :21:57.have built with the families. Well, that brings this edition to a
:21:58. > :22:03.close. We hope you've enjoyed the programme. Please remember you can
:22:04. > :22:10.always reach us online: they can also find us on Facebook. From me
:22:11. > :23:11.and the rest of the talking movies production team, it is goodbye.
:23:12. > :23:12.A combination of big spring tides and gale