Olympia

Director: Leni Riefenstahl

Commissioned by Hitler as propaganda, this film of the 1936 Berlin Summer Olympics is a tribute to human grace. Directed by Leni Riefenstahl.

• Format: DVD
• Language: English
• UPC: 825307915990
• Release Date: June 2006
• Rating: Unrated (Not Rated)
• Publisher: Pathfinder Home Ent
• Director: Leni Riefenstahl
• Runtime: 3 hours, 10 minutes
• Number of Disks: 2
• Other Video Info: Multiple Formats; Collector's Edition; Color; Dolby; Limited Edition; NTSC; Special Edition; Subtitled; Black & White; Full length
• Weight: 0.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 7.5" x 5.4"

Customer Reviews

The photography lures you, action holds you.

The 1936 Olympics brought to life and made immortal. Leni uses every trick in the book and then invents a few to get just the right angle and lighting for each shot, and then integrates them into a whole that makes you feel that you are there. The film opens with a tribute to the history of Greece and the games. We get to see the names of the nations at the time that the torch passes through as it reaches Berlin. A much more realistic torch than today's is running into the stadium with a few pauses to let everyone see just before the final dash to the Olympic torch at the stadium. It would be great to recapture this in the present day. Some of the tribute leads me to believe that our athletes are overly clothed for the sports. It may be unique reasons that brought you to this point, such as Leni or photography, or interest in history, or, or, or. However, once the action starts, you feel that you are there and get lost in the "who will win what and how.” Even being aware of the outcome does not prepare you to "not bite your nails" as you watch each athlete barely besting the next until it is over too soon. I noticed that instead of placing medals over the winners, they used laurel wreaths. Any way you cut it, this movie is worth watching.