The Olympics. Through film and beyond.

Renowned filmmaker Zhang Yimou is General Director of the 2008 Olympics opening and closing ceremonies. "Seeing how China's 5,000-year history is so brilliant, we can't just give an overview or make it like a history class," said Zhang, of his 50-minute segment that crystallizes the nation's long history.

Leaving Fear Behind, a documentary on what the Tibetans think about the 2008 Olympics "premiered in Beijing under a lot of secrecy," writes John on ReelSuave. "The film is more of a series of interviews with Tibetans talking about how their culture had been increasingly pressurized. They also talked about the love they still share for their spiritual leader the [Dalai] Lama, and how the Olympics has done nothing to improve their livelihoods."

[Update: A screening of the film in Beijing was shut down by authorities.]

On Film.com, Sacha Howells offers up "Medals for Movies About the Olympics. What Comes Below Bronze Again?" Leni Riefenstahl may deserve to be "disqualified on account of evil" but it's hard to discount the film's historical importance (or her prowess as a filmmaker), chilling though it may be.

And along those lines, Kiwi journalist Chris Bourke watches the documentary The Wonderful, Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl, "Because one thing these Olympics will have in common with those in Berlin of 1936 is that they will be spectacularly visual. China is a nation whose art direction knows no bounds: even Cecil B DeMille wouldn’t have tried to alter the actual atmosphere to get a better shot. The 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles missed a grand opportunity, even with the sensibility of an actor in the White House; all I remember is Stevie Wonder at the nadir of his career, closing the show."

More in the New Yorker online from writer George Packer. (In a post sure to spark some debate.)

Bryce Zabel pits Without Limits vs. Prefontaine for his new Olympic-themed Smackdown. "Steve Prefontaine wasn't actually a legend to me, you see, because I was there when he was breaking all these incredible records."

Debuting at the Olympics: Let It Out, a film by Lisa Lax and Nancy Stern that "covers some of the most dramatic and poignant moments in Olympic history, and tells how those moments affected the lives of the athletes, their families and the fans who rooted for them." (From International Herald Tribune.) I assume because it's sponsored by Kleenex that it is presumably meant to be a tear-jerker. Or one may have allergic reactions to it. Either way, you're covered.

PS: Even better than the Olympics, if this doesn't cheer you up about world affairs, nothing will.