The Olympic Games, an eternal source of inspiration for filmmakers

As we await the opening of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris on July 26, here is a list of ten films that feature this global sporting event.

From Leni Riefenstahl to Steven Spielberg and Claude Zidi, the Olympic Games have often inspired film directors, in genres as diverse as documentary, political thriller, drama and comedy.

Franceinfo Culture offers you a selection of ten films that depict this sporting event that originated in Antiquity and was revived at the end of the 19th century by Coubertin.

1“The Gods of the Stadium” (1936)

The Gods of the Stadiumreleased under the title “Olympia” is a two-part documentary film about the 1936 Berlin Olympics by Leni Riefenstahl. While Nazi Germany was in the midst of rearmament, the country was hosting the Summer Olympics for the first time. Adolf Hitler commissioned actress and director Leni Riefenstahl, whom he admired, to make a documentary film that he intended to use as a propaganda tool to glorify Nazi power.

The director had a huge budget, which allowed her to experiment with new technologies, such as the use of portable mini-cameras, an underwater camera and a “catapult” camera for the high jump events. Using slow motion, telephoto shots and low-angle shots that highlight the power of the athletes, the director glorifies the body and the ancient Greco-Roman aesthetics dear to the Führer. Despite the controversy, a commission financed by the Nazi regime, this documentary marked the history of cinema with its technical advances and avant-garde filmmaking processes.

2“The Madmen of the Stadium” (1972)

Comedy by Claude Zidi released in 1972, The Stadium Madmen features Les Charlots in an incredible adventure which, from a camping trip in the south of France, takes them to participate in a fictional Olympic Games in Paris in 1976.

3“Visions of Eight” (1973)

This documentary about the 1972 Munich Olympics, made up of eight films, was made by filmmakers from all over the world: Yuri Ozerov, Arthur Penn, Michael Pfleghar, Kon Ichikawa, Miloš Forman, Claude Lelouch, John Schlesinger. Each director takes a different look at the event: Miloš Forman, for example, focuses on the decathlon, Kon Ichikawa on the 100 meters, John Schlesinger on the marathon, Mai Zetterling on the strongest athletes, while Claude Lelouch focuses on the losers. None of them, however, mentions the terrorist attack against the Israeli delegation, which marred the 1972 Munich Olympics.

4“Chariots of Fire” (1981)

Inspired by the true story of two British athletes competing in the 1924 Summer Olympics, Harold Abrahams and Eric Liddell, Chariots of Fire (“Chariots of Fire”), directed by Hugh Hudson, was released in 1981. Nominated for seven Academy Awards in 1982, it won four, including Best Picture. Chariots of Fire, whose title is inspired by a poem by William Blake, also owes its success to the soundtrack by Vangelis.

5“The Ace of Aces” (1982)

The Ace of Acesdirected by Gérard Oury, stars Jean-Paul Belmondo at the top of his game as Jo Cavalier, a renowned boxing coach and World War I veteran. Tasked with accompanying the boxing team to the 1936 Berlin Olympics, he takes charge of a 10-year-old Jewish boy who is being pursued by the Gestapo along the way. A popular success in which Belmondo displays his talents as a stuntman and comedian.

6“Rasta Rockett” (1993)

This comedy by Jon Turteltaub, released in France in 1994, tells the crazy adventure of four Jamaicans chasing a gold medal at the 1988 Calgary Games in an unnatural Olympic discipline: bobsleigh.

7 “Munich” (2006)

Directed by Steven Spielberg, Munich is inspired by the terrorist attack by the Palestinian group Black September, which marred the 1972 Munich Olympics. On the night of September 5, a commando from the Palestinian organization Black September entered the Olympic Village, forced entry to the Israeli pavilion, killing two of its occupants and taking the other nine hostages. Eleven victims were murdered almost live in front of 900 million viewers around the world.

Steven Spielberg’s film tells the story of the aftermath, with the organization by Golda Meir’s government of a reprisal operation called “Wrath of God”. A team of four men, led by Avner, a young Mossad agent, tracks down eleven representatives of Black September, considered responsible for the Munich attack, across the world.

8“Jappeloup” (2013)

This film by Christan Duguay, co-written by Guillaume Canet, tells the story of Pierre Durand, a young lawyer who decides to abandon his promising career to devote himself to show jumping. With his horse Jappeloup, a difficult but gifted horse, he overcomes obstacles and makes his mark in the world of French equestrianism. Even though the Los Angeles Olympics are a failure (the horse refuses an obstacle and ejects its rider), Pierre Durand hung on, with his horse, to win at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

9“Eddie the Eagle” (2015)

This film by Dexter Fletcher, starring Taron Egerton, Hugh Jackman and Christopher Walken, tells the story of “Eddie”, a man who has always dreamed of participating in the Olympic Games even though he has no talent for high-level sport, in any discipline. Touched by his perseverance, a former American champion agrees to coach him to help him participate in the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics in ski jumping.

10 “The Color of Victory” (2016)

Another film about the 1936 Berlin Olympics, The Color of Victorya biopic by Stephen Hopkins that depicts the journey of Jesse Owens, the great African-American champion who won four gold medals at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin. A snub to the Nazi regime.