Olympia Part I: Festival of the Nations (1938)

Olympia Part I:  Festival of the Nations (“Olympia 1. Teil – Fest der Völker”)
Directed by Leni Riefenstahl
Written by Leni Riefenstahl
1938/Germany
Olympia Film GmbH
Repeat viewing
#125 of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

[box] Through my optimism I naturally prefer and capture the beauty in life — Leni Riefenstahl[/box]

Riefenstahl’s film begins with a long arty prologue starting with the ancient Greek games and including a long sequence of nude male and female athletes practicing their sports. It’s sort of an exploration of the beauty of the human body. While this is captivating stuff, I was not looking forward to an hour and a half of the same. As soon as I could tire of it, we were into the Berlin Olympic Games. I ended up really enjoying the film and even rooting for my favorite athletes.

This part of Olympia covers the track and field events. There is no narration per se, just the voice of the German sports commentator. There is surprisingly little nationalism, perhaps inevitable since Germany won so few medals. There are several shots of Hitler but mostly he just looks disappointed. Jesse Owens runs like a rocket compared to his competitors. The music is magnificent.  Recommended.

Fan trailer set to selections from Vangelis (non-sexualized nudity)