Starting with a long and lyrical overture, evoking the origins of the Olympic Games in ancient Greece, Riefenstahl covers twenty-one athletic events in the first half of this two-part love letter to the human body and spirit, culminating with the marathon, where Jesse Owens became the first track and field athlete to win four gold medals in a single Olympics.
Direction
Riefenstahl invented modern sports cinematography. It's infuriatingly brilliant.
Cinematography
Low-angle shots of bodies as sculpture — later stolen by every Olympics ever.
Editing
The diving sequence: pure visual music, no context needed.
Director
Leni Riefenstahl
David Albritton
Self - High Jump, USA (uncredited)
Jack Beresford
Self - Carries British Flag (uncredited)
Henri de Baillet-Latour
Self - IOC, Stands with Hitler, with Hurdlers (uncredited)
Philip Edwards
Self - 800 Metres, Canada (uncredited)
Donald Finlay
Self - 110m Hurdles, Great Britain (uncredited)
Joseph Goebbels
Self - Spectator (uncredited)
Hermann Göring
Self - Spectator (uncredited)
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Every slow-motion finish line, every tracking shot alongside runners — you can blame Riefenstahl. NBC's Olympics coverage is essentially her aesthetic with less explicit fascism (debatable).
Riefenstahl used 30 cameras and developed new underwater housings for the diving sequences. The technical innovations were genuine; their purpose was monstrous.
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