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 Beauty opens with images of the Olympic athletes training, stretching and relaxing, then the games continue. Commentators from around the world cover the many sporting events, the sports included in Part Two are gymnastics (pommel horse, rings, parallel bars and uneven bars), sailing, fencing, boxing, pentathlon, shooting, the 4000-meter cross country race, sprinting, shot put, 400 metres, hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin, decathlon, hockey, polo, football (or soccer), cycling, horse riding (equestrian), rowing, diving (board) and swimming. It ends with the ringing of the large Olympic bell, and the Olympic flag and the many country flags lowering. In Part Two, spectators seen in the audience include Adolf Hitler, Joseph Goebbels and Hermann Göring, and athletes seen competing include GB's Jack Beresford, Germany's Konrad Frey, USA's Cornelius Johnson 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!
