„The Olympic Games, Amsterdam 1928“
Among the many myths surrounding Leni Riefenstahl's film Olympia. One Festival of the Nations. Beauty of the Festival" about the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin also includes the claim that the sports film was reinvented here. This can only be claimed by those who do not know or do not want to know the history of sports films. The film about the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam, for example, already contains much of what Leni Riefenstahl was later credited with inventing: Excellent camera locations and angels, very good slow-motion and telephoto shots, shots of spectators in long shots as well as close-ups, and a narrative form whose elements are still conveyed here via intertitles. At the time, the film was released in an Italian version ("La IX Olympiade ad Amsterdam") and a Dutch version ("De Olympische Spelen - Amsterdam 1928"). The Dutch film was directed by Julius Perel and Wilhelm Prager. In this version, there is also a text panel in the context of the high diving (TC: 61:03:30), which anticipates a visual idea of the Riefenstahl film: “Als vogels zwevende door de lucht“ (Like birds soaring through the air). Many, but not all, Olympic films can be viewed on a website operated by the IOC after registering free of charge.
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