Olympia 1. Teil - Fest der Völker (1938)

Director:

Leni Riefenstahl

Writer:

Leni Riefenstahl (writer)

Release Date:

8 March 1940 (USA)

Genre:

Documentary | Sport

Plot:

The document of the 1936 Olympics at Berlin.

Plot Keywords:

Olympics | Jesse Owens | Propaganda | Stadium | Olympic Games

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

David Albritton	...	Himself (high jump, USA) (uncredited)
Jack Beresford	...	Himself (carries British flag) (uncredited)
Henri de Baillet-Latour	...	Himself (IOC, stands with Hitler, with hurdlers) (uncredited)
Philip Edwards	...	Himself (800 metres, Canada) (uncredited)
Donald Finlay	...	Himself (110m hurdles, GB) (uncredited)
Wilhelm Frick	...	Himself (spectator) (uncredited)
Josef Goebbels	...	Himself (spectator) (uncredited)
Hermann Göring	...	Himself (spectator) (uncredited)
Ernest Harper	...	Himself (marathon, GB) (uncredited)
Rudolf Hess	...	Himself (stands with Hitler) (uncredited)
Adolf Hitler	...	Himself (declares Games open) (uncredited)
Cornelius Johnson	...	Himself (high jump, USA) (uncredited)
King Umberto II	...	Himself (stands with Hitler, salutes Italian team) (uncredited)
Theodor Lewald	...	Himself (German Olympic Committee, stands with Hitler) (uncredited)
Luz Long	...	Himself (long jump, Germany) (uncredited)
Spiridon Louis	...	Himself (walks behind Greek flag, in Greek costume) (uncredited)
John Lovelock	...	Himself (1500 metres, NZ) (uncredited)
Ralph Metcalfe	...	Himself (sprinter, USA) (uncredited)
Seung-yong Nam	...	Himself (marathon, Japan) (uncredited)
Henri Nannen	...	Announcer (uncredited)
Dorothy Odam	...	Herself (high jump, GB) (uncredited)
Martinus Osendarp	...	Himself (100 metres, Holland) (uncredited)
Jesse Owens	...	Himself (sprinter, USA) (uncredited)
Leni Riefenstahl	...	Nude dancer (prologue) (uncredited)
Mack Robinson	...	Himself (second, after Owens) (uncredited)
Julius Schaub	...	Himself (spectator, with glasses, behind Hitler) (uncredited)
Kee-chung Sohn	...	Himself (marathon, Japan) (uncredited)
Julius Streicher	...	Himself (spectator) (uncredited)
Forrest Towns	...	Himself (110m hurdles, USA) (uncredited)
Werner von Blomberg	...	Himself (spectator) (uncredited)
August von Mackensen	...	Himself (spectator) (uncredited)
Hans von Tschammer und Osten	...	Himself (spectator, in white suit) (uncredited) (unconfirmed)

Also Known As:

Olympia - Fest der Völker - Erster Film von den olympischen Spielen Berlin 1936 (Germany) (poster title)
Olympia 1. Teil - Götter des Stadions
Olympia Part One: Festival of the Nations (International: English title) (literal title)
Olympia: The Film of the XI. Olympic Games Berlin, 1936 (UK)
The Olympiad (USA)

Runtime:

Sweden:121 min | USA:111 min | UK:66 min

Country:

Germany

Language:

German | English | Italian | French | Japanese | Portuguese

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:S | Sweden:Btl

Filming Locations:

Acropolis, Athens, Greece

Company:

International Olympic Committee

Trivia:

Mack Robinson, who finished second behind Jesse Owens in the 200 meter race, was the older brother of baseball Hall of Famer Jackie Robinson.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Das Goebbels-Experiment (2005)

Soundtrack:

Olympische Hymnne

Highly original for its time, great use of camerawork

This is a brilliant sports documentary - the experimentation with camera angles was revolutionary at the time and the pole vault sequence at night is one of my favourite sequences in a film ever. The athletes are portrayed as superhuman, so in this sense the film is elitist and Nietzschean, but this is certainly not a racist film, politics does not play an explicit role, although one could argue that the deification of athletes (they are shown in close-up, alone, to contrast with the watching masses) promotes the idea that some men are greater than others. A fascinating film, and a definite progression from the standard documentary format of Das Triumph des Willens.