OLYMPIA (1938) B/W Part I: FESTIVAL OF THE NATIONS 118m; Part II: FESTIVAL OF BEAUTY 107m; dir: Leni Riefenstahl (running times may vary depending upon version)

photographed by Hans Ertl, Walter Frantz, Guzzi Lantschner, Kurt Neubert, Willy Zielke, Hans Schneib, Wilfried Basse and 38 others

From Georges Sadoul's Dictionary of Films: "Leni Riefenstahl was given full artistic freedom and almost unlimited facilities to produce this film of the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin. One and a half million feet of film were shot and the editing by Riefenstahl, assisted by [Walther] Ruttman, took 18 months. It was released in Germany in two parts in 1938 and released abroad in at least four language versions and several differently edited versions.

"Some sequences, such as the marathon, the men's diving, Jesse Owen's medal sprint races, are beautiful not only because of their content but also because of Riefenstahl's use of slow motion and telephoto lenses. However, others are ridiculous, such as the sequence in which Riefenstahl compares the naked bodies of athletes to Greek statues. One of the most extraordinary pieces of bravura is the sequence that shows the carrying of the Olympic torch from Olympia in Greece to Berlin. Five years later the SS retraced this journey, planted the Swastika, and drowned Greece in blood and fire.

'[Although the film is still engrossingly beautiful, it provides strange glimpses of the Nazi mystique and about its idealization of of the young male body whose implications may seem disturbing today. Many sequences suggest a deeply suspicious attitude on Riefenstahl's part toward physical reality. Its numerous shots of figures silhouetted against the sun or searchlights illustrates this visual obscurantism. More than a hymn to the glory of athletics, its compelling beauty remains only a monument to the Nazi ideal of Kraft durch Freude.]"