Though mastered from a PAL source, the 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen image looks surprisingly sharp and impossibly saturated, and only the sharp - eyed or the anal - retentive will notice a smattering of compression artifacts. (filmfreakcentral.net)
Respected filmmaker Kon Ichikawa (The Harp of Burma, Fires on the Plain) and an army of technicians recorded the games in widescreen images, the most striking occurring near the beginning of the film, as a runner with the Olympic torch is shown in long shot with the sunlit Mt. Fuji in the background. (rottentomatoes.com)
Closer in metaphysical spirit to Kiarostami than to Leone, it lingers thanks to beautifully lit widescreen images of lived - in faces and barren, beautiful landscapes. (metacritic.com)