Listening to NPR today, the hosts were discussing a fascinating and truly exciting documentary about the 1968 football game of Harvard vs Yale which more importantly runs significant parallels with the cultural climate of the time. I decided to look the film up online and lo and behold it seems to be everywhere; yet I’d never heard of it.
Listening to the guest on the show this morning, the way they described the football game was exciting in and of itself, so I can only image how much fun the film must be. “With only 41 seconds remaining in the game, that’s when it really got exciting. You know the title of the film and know how the score is ultimately going to end up, but you just can’t believe that it’s going to get there.” This alone intrigues me.
Add to this that Tommy Lee Jones (yes, that Tommy Lee Jones), who speaks at length throughout the movie, was playing on the Harvard side of the ball (whose roommate at the time was Al Gore) and on the other side of the ball (in the crowd anyway) was George W. Bush. So… yeah.
Having already played at TIFF earlier this year, Harvard Beats Yale 29-29 is getting a very nice reception from critics and fans. Apparently it weaves footage of the game along with commentary by many of its key players as they talk about the plays of the game and also their feelings of watching the world in near chaos, crumbling around them at the time.
If anyone has seen this or knows a screening schedule I’d love to hear about it. I can find tons of information on the game itself, but not much multi-media on the movie. I love docs where the characters themselves are so great, fun and interesting that fiction couldn’t have done a better job.
This discussion currently has 4 responses.
you are all so well-adjusted and interested in everything...
November 19, 2008
I’m planning to see this (with director and others associated with the film in attendance) on Friday night just a stone’s throw from Harvard at the excellent Brattle Theater. (I’m taking a few days off from the theater after screening 8 movies there this weekend.)
I too love docs and am looking forward to this one.
November 19, 2008
It’s playing at the Criterion in New Haven, CT http://www.criterioncinemas.com/movie.php?movieID=bd3736ede9e866869fb63d87dd055cd0
November 24, 2008
I thought the timing of the film’s release was a great play: The same weekend as this year’s actual Harvard-Yale game, which determined the Ivy League champion. I can imagine that helped the film for anyone searching online for this year’s game…
July 27, 2009
Released on DVD this Tuesday!