O-l-y-m-p-i-a (1938)

ThOnda

I have found some copy of movies:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0030522/
and
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0030523/

They are O-l-y-m-p-i-a by Leni Reifenstahl.

I know that they are moving pictures, but she had a photographic eye. Some of the sequences are better than from very last olympic games.

I am absolutely against breaking copyright and other laws, so please, do NOT contact me if you want copy on DVD (two .AVI files).

And if you contact me, I won't give you opportunity to buy or purchase such DVD.

Edit - some stupid censoring here :-(

440Hz

Great historical worth there for sure. Very controversial but certainly one for any history buff. I have seen some clips of these but never the full thing. Interesting post. It will be interesting to see the reactions also. Whether opinions really change with history or not ??

Impressed by your findings.

magicbastarder

what's up with the censoring? em see dee venue?

rymus

off to films with you

ThOnda

I don not care about some symbols or people in that movie. I have seen it as a art-document with wonderful and professional camera, edit and ideas.

This is not movie to promote anything, I am interested purely in photographic and cinematographic work in that movie.

I can say the same about some Terry Gilliam's movies. I don't understand them, but I like the visual work there.

Edit for Rymus: There is more to see from the visual arts than a movie. Really good training not only for sport photography. Very very visual. I think that it should be seen by everybody interested in photography.

440Hz

magicbastarder wrote:

what's up with the censoring? em see dee venue?

That would be due to the venue of the same name. See the sticky on every forum! Cos I can't blantantly type the reason hehe

DaireQuinlan

I saw Triumph of the will a few years back when the IFI was showing it (to much controversy). Her work is extraordinarily powerful visually, and of course it helps that so much of Nazi propoganda and public spectacle was geared toward providing an overwhelming visual effect in the first place. As far as I know she always claimed to be 'politically naive' and unaware of the true nature of national socialism. Its hard to seperate the woman from the message though. Its faintly ... disturbing ... to watch it.

ThOnda

Very true. But knowing that fact it is easier to avoid the propaganda and focus yourself only on the visual work there.
And that's all for now, I am looking forward to see what have I done :-(

440Hz

Very well said Daire! I agree with your sentiments entirely. Yes, it is true that she claimed to be unaware, then again, most Germans did. Probably wiser not to begin a historical debate on the topic though. I'm sure the OP intended to post this for the artistic merit of the work, and its visual impact, which many ppl in the photog forum would be interested in, hopefully they will follow the moved link.

Morlar

I think they are in the middle of making a movie about her starring jodie foster so when that comes out there will probably be a re-appraisal /revival of interest in her work.

I think the cinematography /photography in triumph of the will is also pretty amazing, if you like old b/w movies that would be right up there from the cinematography/editing/photography perspective.

It is comparatively slick political propaganda but its pretty easy to see beyond that from todays perspective and there is still a lot to appreciate about them from a technical standpoint, (notwithstanding the fact that they were made before war actually broke out) - they were groundbreaking films in my opinion.

I checked out the berlin cinema museum when I was there last year and berlin in the 20's, 30's was absolutely full of groundbreaking cinematographers and riefenstahl was one of the best imo. Its a shame she didnt end up like the majority of her counterparts who went on to make hollywood movies in the 50's onwards.