I found this German film in the book 1001 Movies You See Before You Die, it was made in three versions, in German, English and French, and you can watch it as a full 3 hours 26 minutes movie, or in two parts, written, directed and produced by Leni Riefenstahl (Triumph of the Will). Basically Olympia, or Olympiad, was the first documentary feature film of the Olympic Games ever made, documenting the 1936 Summer Olympics, held in the Olympic Stadium in Berlin, Germany, this was during the time of Nazi Germany, under the dictatorship of Adolf Hitler, obviously the Olympics Games of 1940 and 1944 were cancelled due to World War II. Festival of the Nations opens with images of Greek ruins, and Olympian statues, including The Discobolus of Myron and a nude dancer (Leni Riefenstahl), coming to life and doing sporting events. Then the games begin, with the ringing of the large Olympic bell, the many countries entering the arena, most giving the Nazi salute, the country flags are raised, the Olympic flag is raised, Hitler declares the games open, doves are released, the torch relay reaches the stadium, the cauldron and Olympic flame are lit, and the Olympic rings appear. Commentators from around the world cover the many sporting events, the sports included in Part One are discus, javelin, sprinting (one with a false start, running before the gun), hurdles, hammer throw, high jump, shot put, pole vault, marathon and long jump. In Part One, spectators seen in the audience include Adolf Hitler, Wilhelm Frick, Joseph Goebbels, Hermann Göring, King Umberto II and Werner von Blomberg, and athletes seen competing include USA's David Albritton, GB's Jack Beresford, USA's Glenn Cunningham, Canada's Philip Edwards, GB's Donald Finlay, Germany's Tilly Fleischer, GB's Ernest Harper, Germany's Karl Hein, USA's Cornelius Johnson, USA's Ralph Metcalfe and USA's Jesse Owens. The film was commissioned by Hitler "as a song of praise to the ideals of National Socialism", Riefenstahl was supplied with 30 cameramen, as well as planes and airships, the film is obviously full of bad taste material for modern audiences, but with interesting sporting events, and more importantly groundbreaking filming techniques, including unusual camera angles, smash cuts, extreme close-ups, tracking shots and aerial shots, it is considered one of the best documentaries ever made. Very good!
