Olympia 1. Teil - Fest der Völker
1938 / 127m - Germany
Documentary, Sport
1.5*/5.0*
Olympia Part One: Festival of the Nations poster

Watches

September 26, 2021

1.5*/5.0*

A famous documentary by Leni Riefenstahl about the Olympic Games in 1936, Berlin. Part of its fame is due to the Nazi propaganda present, though Riefenstahl's artistic style can't just be ignored either. The way she positions her camera and edits everything together is certainly ahead of its time.

The documentary starts with a rather artistic presentation about the journey of the Olympic torch, then moves on to more typical sport reports. That kind of reporting has evolved a lot since then though and without the proper context, you're just watching some badly shot athletic numbers with nameless athletes competing.

This is only the first part, I don't think I'll be watching the second part in the near future. The sport segments were rather dull and apart from some nice shots left and right there's really not much to enjoy here. A doc that was ahead of its time, but is hopelessly trailing the current norm.