Spirit Of The Marathon (2007/Image DVD)
Picture:
C+ Sound: C+ Extras: C- Documentary: C+
Jogging and
running are two of those things that you either like or don’t like, so with
that in mind, Jon Dunham’s Spirit Of The
Marathon (2007) had some work cut out for it in its coverage of a recent
Chicago Marathon and tries to weave a big picture out of many interviews with
various runners and fans throughout his 102-minutes documentary that does
manage to get to the point about things.
However, it was not so exciting as to make a convert out of the
uninterested and that is in part because he does not see downside to all this.
Dunham
thinks this is very interesting and exciting all on its own and though I did
not expect him to jazz this up in any way, it becomes more surface than depth
and the biggest questions of why people do this, why they love it and how it
remains popular is lost in a work that is more closed than it should be. I could have accepted a longer piece if it
told us more, but the makers just cannot get into the “spirit” of filmmaking,
even if they are in the zone on running.
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 was shot on various video formats (including
older video footage) and includes some archival film, but all remains a bit soft
throughout. The Dolby Digital 5.1 and
2.0 Stereo mixes are about on par with each other as most of the audio is
location recording with some music added here and there, plus the older footage
that does have audio is usually monophonic.
Extras include the trailer and a making of featurette.
- Nicholas Sheffo
