Games 74

Games 74 is a 1974 New Zealand–made documentary film of the 1974 British Commonwealth Games, held in Christchurch, New Zealand from 24 January to 2 February 1974. The full title was Games 74: Official Film of the Xth British Commonwealth Games, Christchurch, New Zealand, 1974.

The feature-length documentary in colour and on 35 mm was shot and processed by the New Zealand National Film Unit (NFU). The directors became prominent in New Zealand film-making in the next two decades, and one of the location assistants, one Sam Neill, went on to an international career.

The spectator’s-eye camera avoids camera comment. The prime targets are track events, then field events, with “elephantine drama� from the male weightlifters and shots of the marathon which go outside the stadium. There is a surprisingly (for the time) gender-balanced and apolitical narrative which underlines the humanity of the competitors as much as it shows the drama of success and failure� according to Sam Edwards, although “woman’s events receive scant coverage�. Divers are captured in slow motion, and a “series of high jumpers, using similar techniques to cross the bar are edited in collapsed sequence, reminding viewers of salmon exploding up a waterfall�.

The film has been restored and is available on DVD.