Olympia: the film of the XI Olympic Games, Berlin, 1936

The official record of the XIth Olympiad held in Berlin in 1936. Beginning with a long series of classic figures depicting athletics in ancient Greece, the film continues with the bearing of the Olympic torch across the Continent of Europe to Berlin, where entry into the Reich Sport Field introduces the sections of the film recording the actual events. The “Olympiad” is a majestically conceived and executed film recording not only the sporting contests but also rendering eternal on film the charms of athletic sports, their special beauties, their grace and their power. This great film captures for all time the spirit of those sixteen glorious days when the Olympic flame burned on the arena, the bell tolled and the world’s best athletes measured their strength in stirring combat. Perhaps it is hard to forgive Leni Riefenstahl her collusion with the Nazis, but neither can we deny the inspired lyricism of her cine-spectacles. Extraordinary and inspired throughout, this film’s testament to the State’s power to colonise even beauty and poetry. Music by Herbert Windt. Commentary in German.