But even if all the symbolism was not always immediately decipherable, the sheer scale of the pageantry and color of the event was dazzling in its splendor.

CNN: 'Magnificent' Games sent off in style

Both the composition and the color of the images are stirringly beautiful, but they feel loaded with symbolism and sentiment: an emaciated man swaying with exhaustion during an interminable roll call appears to be experiencing a kind of transcendent ecstasy, like Joan of Arc on the pyre.

NEWYORKER: Fateless