235. The Witches Of The Orient; movie review

 

 

THE WITCHES OF THE ORIENT

Cert U

100 mins

BBFC advice: Contains very mild threat, brief war footage

Ever since I was old enough to immerse myself in the Olympics, I have been an addict to the two-week festival of international sport.

Hockey, sailing, shooting, rowing, canoeing and equestrian events only pass my radar every four years - admittedly because they tend to be fertile ground for British medals.

Volleyball is rarely on our TV screens because it is not particularly popular in the UK.

However, it certainly was in Japan in 1964 when Tokyo hosted the Olympics and the women's team were fancied to win gold.

Julien Faraut's Witches Of the Orient traces the enthralling story of that squad and reflects on how much dedication is required to be the best in the world.

This was an extraordinary side because it was made up of young women who all worked in the same textile factory.

Their tale goes back to 1954 at a factory in Osaka where the company Nichibo created a female volleyball team which went on to unparalleled success.

The key was bringing in a former Japanese army commander, Daimatsu Hirobumi, a tireless drill sergeant, who led them to all of the major domestic corporate titles by 1958.

Indeed, they were so good they became en bloc the Japanese national team.

Faut's documentary includes contributions from all but one of the survivors and they go into great detail about the uncompromising schedules.

They tell how they started work at 6.30am and went straight to volleyball after their duties at the factory, often not completing training until midnight.

They did this six days a week, 52 weeks a year.

I am an Olympics fan so I was fascinated by what went into preparation but I wasn't sure about the occasional combination with Japanese anime to emphasise the superhuman efforts of the players during The Witches Of the Orient.

Nevertheless, it is an engrossing documentary.

Reasons to watch: Demonstrates the dedication needed to win gold

Reasons to avoid: Strange use of animation and out-of-place artiness

Laughs: None

Jumps: None

Vomit: None

Nudity: None

Overall rating: 8/10

Did you know? After almost three decades of medal drought in the Olympics, Japan's women took home the Bronze medal by defeating South Korea in the 2012 Summer Olympics

The final word. Julien Faraut: "The idea for the film was born out of a meeting. About ten years ago Ralph Hippolyte, a former national volleyball coach, brought me a 16mm reel of a volleyball film produced in 1964 by the Japanese Olympic Committee. I discovered for the first time the daily reality of Kinuko Tanida, Katsumi Matsumura, Yoko Shinozaki, Yoshiko Matsumura and their teammates, all members of the Japanese national team and of whom I knew absolutely nothing at the time."

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