Olympia Part One: Festival of the Nations

Leni Riefenstahl's two-part about the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin is generally considered a tribute to human physical power. The first part, opens with nude, muscular Arian men, shot from below, which gives them almost supernatural proportions. The documentary concentrates on track and field athletics, including controversial images of the Hitler salute en masse during the opening ceremony and Hitler's disapproving look when the black American athlete Jesse Owens wins four golden medals. The insistent presence of the emphatic voice-over regularly expresses his preference for the Arian athletes. But it is the innovative camera techniques in particular that are most striking, techniques that were often copied later on. One camera captures the events from a hot air balloon above the stadium, while another camera follows the athletes in action from a rail placed along the track. Holes were even dug to capture the athletes from below. The film was edited in a suggestive manner, mixing images of the games with footage of training sessions. Riefenstahl's frequent use of close-ups and slow motion, as well as the interweaving of music and the athletes' movements result in a poetic whole.