Should you watch Olympia Part One: Festival of the Nations?
Who it’s good for, who it isn’t, and what’s in it. No ratings, no scores.
Olympia Part One: Festival of the Nations
Documentary · 1938
Starting with a long and lyrical overture, evoking the origins of the Olympic Games in ancient Greece, Riefenstahl covers twenty-one athletic events in the first half of this two-part love letter to the human body and spirit, culminating with the marathon, where Jesse Owens became the first track and field athlete to win four gold medals in a single Olympics.
The sides of Olympia Part One: Festival of the Nations
- The 1936 Berlin Olympics
- Jesse Owens winning four gold medals
- A film made for the Nazi regime
Olympia Part One: Festival of the Nations is good for you if…
- you like Leni Riefenstahl's camera angles that shaped how sport is filmed.
- you like watching athletes in motion, event after event.
- you want to see how the Nazi regime staged the 1936 Games.
Olympia Part One: Festival of the Nations is bad for you if…
- you find black and white films from the 1930s dated.
- you won't read subtitles for German narration.
About: propaganda · the body · competition
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