SALUTE
SALUTE |
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Documentary about champion sprinter Peter Norman and human rights activism at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico | score 3 |
moviereview rates films from 1 (unwatchable) to 5 (unmissable) |
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| Cast Peter Norman, John Carlos, Tommie Smith, Larry Questad, Paul Hoffman, Payton Jordan Director Matt Norman Screenwriter Documentary Country Australia Rating / Running Time PG / 120 minutes Australian Release July 2008 Official Site (c) moviereview
2006-2008
ABN 72 775 390 361 |
‘He’s
the skinny white guy in the photograph.’ Matt Norman’s
insightful documentary about his uncle Peter - Olympic champion and
holder of the Australian 200m record – is a telling record of
politics and sport. 1968 was a year when social activism was reaching a
crescendo; the year that Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King were
assassinated, and Aboriginal children were forcibly removed from their
families. It was the year that military forces shot at Mexican students
and, in the Olympic arena, Peter Norman joined activists Tommie Smith
and John Carlos on the dais. He wore a badge in support of the Olympic
Project for Human Rights, they raised clench fists in the now infamous
salute. Salute premiered to an emotional and responsive crowd at the Sydney Film Festival where they gave filmmaker Matt Norman a standing ovation. It caught the mood of an invigorated audience basking in rediscovered social compassion brought on by last year’s election. His film gave them pride and anger – a good combination in any documentary. Pride at Peter’s actions, anger at the treatment metered out by Olympic and sporting authorities. Where he was reprimanded, Smith and Carlos were suspended. Although no Australian has taken Norman’s record, he was not invited to participate at the Sydney Olympics because of actions 30 years prior. Matt Norman secured pivotal interviews with fellow athletes and sporting figures though tellingly, none were Australian. David Hirschfelder’s brooding score adds texture and helps propel the film through some distracting technical lapses. It’s a minor note in an otherwise compelling feature that fills a large hole in Australia’s sporting and political history. Salute is a wonderful portrait painted with wit, humour and dignity. // COLIN FRASER |