This paper explains that that Leni Riefenstahl's film of the 1936 Olympic
documentary is
propaganda, focusing more on German
and German-sympathetic athletes and the ambiance of the Berlin stadium, seen in its new Nazi grandeur; whereas, in the most stunning photography, Ton Ichikawa's film of the 1964 Tokyo Olympiad is a salute of the exertion of the athletes regardless of race, nationality or ethnic background. The author points out that "Tokyo Olympiad 1964" is not a "sports
documentary" in the traditional sense of showing races, winners and celebrating crowds but rather a technically and emotionally gripping documentary about the effort of preparation and the Olympic spirit. The paper concludes that, in a sense, this film is just as much a
propaganda piece about Japan's new maturity as was Olympia 1936 but in a way that the glorification politics do not interfere with the presentation of the athletics.