Criterion Riefenstahl's Olympia
Dennis Miller
From the Criterion "in production" web page--
Commissioned by the Olympic Committee to make a feature film of the 1936 Berlin
Olympics, director Leni Riefenstahl created a legendary and dramatic celebration of the
human form in action. Olympia is divided into two parts: Part I includes an abstract
introduction, the lighting of the torch, and track & field events. Part II includes
field hockey, aquatic sports, bicycling, sailing, rowing, as well as the marathon race
and decathlon event.
2 discs / CLV / $99.95 / 1936-38 / street date: MAY 1997
The site didn't mention extras such as commentary or a documentary on the impact of the
film. Hopefully a "Triumph of the Will" disc will follow. Riefenstahl's films provide
an opportunity for discussion on the role of the filmmaker in a political world and
his/her responsibilities to society.
Note, I certainly do not support the content of Riefenstahl's films, only an admiration
for her skills as an artist.
----
Dennis Miller
dkm...@unix.tamu.edu
http://http.tamu.edu:8000/~dkm800a/homepage.html
Eric Hodges
I'm glad this is coming out, too, but I'm bothered by your last
statement. Riefenstahl
made a lot of movies. Some of them were propoganda for Hitler, some
were not. I've
never seen the entire "Olympia", but the parts I have seen have nothing
to do with
politics (at least not overtly.) I feel angry that you distance
yourself from her,
mostly because I feel the same urge to distance myself.
Why is that? There have been a lot of film makers who supported awful
things (Disney)
or did awful things (Polanski). Why is it so hard to like LR openly?
Anyway, I'm glad Criterion is puttin this out, and I hope they do "The
Blue Light"
as well.
Vincent
It's about time that CRITERION got to OLYMPIA. As far as a
commentary, who else but Leni Riefenstahl herself! My God, she's
alive and well (and still kicking!), why not use her.
Of course, she might want to distance herself from this material
altogether. I'm sure that it has not been very easy for her to be the
creator of what was Nazi propaganda. The fact that she made it
artistic is a homage to her gifts and not to her shady uncertain
politics.
Vincent
vr...@ix.netcom.com
http://users.aol.com/VRV1/index.html
Roger Ang
Vincent <vr...@ix.netcom.com> wrote:
> It's about time that CRITERION got to OLYMPIA. As far as a
> commentary, who else but Leni Riefenstahl herself! My God, she's
> alive and well (and still kicking!), why not use her.
> Of course, she might want to distance herself from this material
> altogether. I'm sure that it has not been very easy for her to be the
> creator of what was Nazi propaganda. The fact that she made it
> artistic is a homage to her gifts and not to her shady uncertain
> politics.
>
> Vincent
Related to this: look up the documentary "The Wonderful, Horrible Life
of Leni Riefenstahl." This aired on PBS but I'm not sure if it's on
video. The people filming this seemed to be young German film-makers
who at times really pressed Riefenstahl about justifying about her work
for the Nazi.
--
Roger (rp...@concentric.net)
Dennis Miller
Roger Ang wrote:
> Related to this: look up the documentary "The Wonderful, Horrible Life
> of Leni Riefenstahl." This aired on PBS but I'm not sure if it's on
> video. The people filming this seemed to be young German film-makers
> who at times really pressed Riefenstahl about justifying about her work
about laserdisc. While the film is a bit long (close to 3 hours) it does
create a portrait of woman who has lived a fascinating life.
As far as creating Nazi propaganda, she sticks with her patent answer
that she was just "doing a job." The perception I got from the
filmmakers, however, was that she really doesn't believe it.
Cal Rice
Wasn't it 1934 when Riefenstahl's 'Triumph of the Will' was made?
Nobody knew at that time what the Nazis would become. Hitler didn't
invade Poland until five years later. And no one dreamed of the
holocaust until much later.
Riefenstahl was innocent, and she has always said so. The reason she
has been defamed all her life is that she refuses to apologize -
because she has nothing to apologize for.
-cr
--
G Beenie
BTW, "Wonderful, Terrible Life..." is available on vhs and ld.
Geena P.
gbe...@aol.com
I'm not being defensive. YOU'RE the one who's being defensive.
TEB1013
Yes, "Wonderful, Horrible" is on LD, I've seen it at Tower. It is a
superior documentary, although Leni's claims that she didn't supprt the
Nazis and wasn't political sound pretty thin. Anyway, Olympia is a great
film, a real work of art, not just anouther highlights of the Olympics
show. Looking forward to it. Does anyone know the propose price? I expect
it'll be pretty stiff.
Tom Brown (teb 10...@aol.com)
teb...@aol.com