Olympia
Leni Riefenstahl's epic documentary of the 1936 Olympic Games in
Berlin. Your viewing pleasure may be somewhat tainted by the appearance
of Adolf Hitler. He hosted the games and commissioned the film. The
insanely long opening sequence shows nude and loin-clothed athletes,
Greek ruins and German forests. Next, the camera pans over a map of
Europe. Names of countries, Hungary, Austria, Czechoslovakia pop up. It
reads like a roadmap for coming invasions. Then on to the stadium full
of heiling masses. Jesse Owens' series of wins in the sprint races, an
athletic bird-flip to Nazism, are a definite highlight. Gives some
perspective on Olympic Games and politics, no?
Tokyo Olympiad
Set at the Tokyo Olympic Games of 1964, Kon Ichikawa's film opens
with a wrecking ball on old fire-bombed buildings, then cuts to a brand
new jet age Olympic stadium.
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