Documentary Movie Reviews
(For optimum viewing, adjust the zoom level of your browser to 125%.)
Olympia (1938)
Rate:
8
Viewed:
6/14
6/14:
After watching the two parts of Olympia (in German, Olympia 1. Teil — Fest der Völker and
Olympia 2. Teil — Fest der Schönheit) by Leni Riefenstahl, I can safely say I've seen more footage of
the 1936 Berlin's Olympics Games than all of the Olympics Games combined from the last twenty-five years.
It's surprising to see how little, except for the brazen cheating, bribery, and corruption, has changed since then. Although
there are a multitude of powerful, moving images in both parts, longueurs abound in between. It's somewhat a back-and-forth
challenge of getting through the documentary.
No matter what, it's still an important historical piece of work that captures a period of time. To choose, I like the second
part more even though the first has some footage of Jesse Owens. I'm still amazed how they did the high jump and the pole vault
events. There's no landing pad, either! Looking at the people in the stands, they were well-dressed for a sporting event.
On the other hand, from a technical standpoint, Leni Riefenstahl was way ahead of her time, implementing many stylistic
shots that are revolutionary and incomparable. This alone is the reason why Olympia is a must-see. There's no slant or
bigotry for a moment.
All in all, Olympia is a great cinematic experience.