If this film was never made, the current camera movements and angles we see today on television would probably never exist. Given unquestionable freedom, Leni Riefenstahl created a film which is bold in composition and visual aptitude. The motions of athleticism are caught beautifully, especially the diving sequence and the running sequences. While many will say Riefenstahl was a pro-Nazi film maker, one cannot deny the innovation she instilled in the art of film making. If you can take the near 4-hour running time and the fact there is no dialogue in the film, then experience this film for the power and breathtaking visuals, not the supposed pro-Nazi agenda.
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ElMaruecan8230 August 2016Reviewing the first opus of Leni Riefenstahl's documentary epic "Olympia", titled "Festival of Nations", I remarked that its idealistic content reflected our unconscious hypocrisy.
Indeed, we label a film as propaganda because it's supposedly meant to exalt the pride of belonging to a nation while this is exactly what any sporting event does today. If it's an exaltation of superiority of any sort, the movie, as a documentary, never hid the victories and never pretended Jesse Owens didn't win. The film wasn't propaganda, it just had the misfortune to be made for a regime that could use it in order to demonstrate the power of Germany as the host country, but not as a physically superior people, so one of the best alibis "Olympia" could come up with is that it never made the Nazis' point.
But it made sport's point and I don't think there's another documentary that provided such a glorious recollection of various sporting events, we're just so carried away by understandable hostile sentiments conveyed by the film's historical context that we fail to appreciate it for what it is: a hymn to the beauty of sport. And if the first opus focused on competition, the second is more lighthearted, so to speak, focusing on the beauty period, the youthful magnificence of the human body in action. And it's only fitting that the art of motion picture could finally magnify and sublimate so many movements we take for granted. "Olympia" raises the awareness of the sport appeal and in many ways, can be regarded as the seminal 'sport' film.
The film is full of the same slow motions that proved their efficiency in the first opus during the opening sequence, and the technique culminated at the defining diving event, where for the first time, the competition ceased to matter and sport wasn't a mean anymore, but an end, a way to express the inner potential of the body. Riefenstahl exhilarated the beauty of a male body in such a revolutionary way she literally invented the soft-core porn. As even the straightest of men can't look at Usain Bolt or Michael Phelps' bodies without a slight bit of envy and admiration, and maybe it took the eye of a female director to finally reconcile us with our homoerotic tendencies, like it took the Renaissance male painters and sculptors to deify the female body. The French title of "Olympia" is even more eloquent as it says "Gods of Stadium", an expression still referring to modern athletes.
But things seem to have evolved on that matter: by the time the Olympic games stop, the Paralympics start, and this might be what dates the film, its focus on the good, healthy and able body. We should all be glad to live in a world that awards the strength and achievement of the human spirit and its triumph over the handicap. That said, cinema or documentary is all about sight and sound, and we can't pretend that the sight of a missing leg or arm is as pleasing to the eyes... without feeling a bit hypocritical. And those who praise the spirit of the Paralympics, do they watch the games? Do they know the athletes' names? Now, while "Festival of Beauty" is a hymn to strength and grace and physical ability, I'm not sure if it is outdated or modern by these standards. Have we really stopped to care about strength and beauty?
It's funny how "Olympia" keeps on revealing human hypocrisy while we cast our stones at Riefenstahl. Let's face it, one of the appeal of sport is to provide us some beautiful sights, the beauty of the body and the harmony in the movements, and men have always sought beauty, harmony and strength in any form, and with such tools as Riefenstahl's camera and directing skills, cinema finally made it possible. Contrarily to the first opus, we don't see much of the politicians as they were not exactly physically appealing, Riefenstahl was obviously in love with sportspeople, whether for the muscular bodies or the voluptuous forms, and never had a camera been so in love with human physicality. Of course, she didn't invent the slow motion or the smash cut, she didn't invent the low angles or any of these creative tricks used in German expressionism, but she was the first director to use them for sport and now they became staples in sport filming.
Watch any sports channel; any montage will borrow from Leni Riefenstahl's "Olympia". She elevated sports to a status that would forever be connected with the camera. It's impossible to watch "Olympia" without connecting it to anything related to sports. Riefenstahl was the first to understand that the motion pictures wasn't just meant to tell fictional stories, it could simply be about pure and basic motion and only the magic and the power of camera could translate these basic movements into magnificent choreographs. Any sports film, TV show or documentary borrows from "Olympia", that's for the legacy.
Now, concluding my two reviews of "Olympia", I'm not the devil's advocate, I just believe it is unfair to blame Riefenstahl for not having foreseen what non-German people couldn't predict as well. Not quite the same alibi as "Triumph of the Will" because foreigners, athletes and politicians were present and no one saw. Maybe the sight of these 'Gods of Stadium' blinded them they didn't see it was just a truce, a silent truce before the storm starts with its streak of persecutions and invasions, maybe the whole world was fooled indeed. But the athletes played the game, played it fair, with honor and sincerity and by capturing their exploits, Riefenstahl set the new standards of the sport genre.
So, contrarily to "Triumph of the Will", "Olympia" is one great film not just for the historical magnitude, but also for its aesthetic value and its cinematic influence. "Olympia" is a film any movie lover should admire. -
Boba_Fett11386 August 2008This is an even more beautiful looking documentary than was the case with the first Riefenstahl 1936 Olympics documentary "Olympia 1. Teil - Fest der Völker". Perhaps it's because this movie focuses more on the more gracious looking sports, than was the case in the first movie, which focused purely on the sports being played within the Olympic stadium. Or perhaps it's also because the Netherlands actually won some gold medals in this part ;). This movie mostly focuses on all of the other sport being played outside of the stadium, indoors and outdoors. Sports such as fencing, boxing, swimming, hockey and everything else you can expect during the Olympics. Most sports are still featured now days at the Olympics. It's of course great seeing all those rs and how they were being played back then in 1936. Some things (for the better) have really changed.
Because of the more wide diversity of sports, the documentary also seems like it's going faster as well. Basically every 5 minutes we get to see a completely different sport, being set also at a totally different location again. It also perhaps makes all more exciting to watch as well.
Just like "Olympia 1. Teil - Fest der Völker" it's a beautifully shot documentary, that set the standards for future documentary making. Leni Riefenstahl was a real pioneer in documentary making, regardless of what you think of her motives. Many of the used techniques are now common to the filming of sports.
This movie also definitely feels less propaganda like than was still the case with "Olympia 1. Teil - Fest der Völker". It still remains a weird sight though, seeing German officers helping out the athletes, as Olympic officials. This of course got very all well organized and planned out by Nazi authorities, which basically used the 1936 as one big piece of propaganda. At least it doesn't show as much of Hitler (actually no Hitler at all) and Nazi flag waving as was the case in the first part.
A great and important achievement in the filming of sport and documentary making in particular, from Leni Riefenstahl.
9/10
http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/ -
***warning: spoliers (of a sort)*** This is certainly the better of the two Olympia films, as others have noted, though some sequences are more interesting than others. Gymnastics gets its turn - not surprising, as Riefenstal trained as a gymnast - as do equestrian events, all-too- brief coverage of cycling, and a few too many yachts. This is the film with the diving, as others have noted, and it is not possible to overstate how brilliantly edited that sequence is.
That sequence, along with the gymnastics which open the film, is the heart of "Olympia"'s rather complex connection with Nazi ideology. Watch these sequences, and notice how the athletes' connection with the ground is removed. The extreme slow motion and rhythmic editing take this beyond a celebration of beauty; it is a celebration of transcendence, the creation of an image of man larger than the world. The diving sequence at the end disolves into an idealized vision of Speer's Cathedral of Light, and the film ends with clouds, flags, flame, and a ladder of lights that pierces the sky. Together with Windt's underrated score, this film is one of the best examples of German Romanticism ever created. That idealization and transcendence, the piercing of matter to get at the spirit behind it, *was* a component of Nazi ideology, and Riefenstahl, who was not a member of the party (and, to be fair, seems to have been repelled by the Nazi's racism) was a fellow Romantic.
Is it worth seeing today? Undoubtedly so, if only to see where modern sports coverage got its start. Think about those more complex connections, though. -
Grand25 August 1999Rarely -- perhaps never before or since -- has the sheer beauty of the human body and the joy in its perfection been as well captured as in in "Olympia, Festival of Beauty". Watching this is film is to capture some sense of what the Ancient Greeks meant when they discussed _arete_ -- the "virtue" of being "beautiful" in body and soul. The great Humanists of the Renaissance would have been honored to count Miss Riefenstahl among their number had they been able, by some miracle, to see this canvas of Beauty in motion. As art, this film ranks with the works of Michaelangelo, Donatello, Phidias, and others who have scaled the empyrean heights and seen Humanity looking back at them. Poignant is the dolorous thought that within a few years so many of these paragons of _arete_ would be killed in the War. It is no wonder that Joseph Goebbels was said to have disliked Riefenstahl -- while she (even in "Triumph of the Will") held a mirror to the beauty of humanity and its highest aspirations, he dredged up the most noxious evils of the soul and twisted them into images of fear & horror; while she emphasized unity and camaraderie, he stressed division & distrust in order to secure his own vile position under the Fuhrer whom they both viewed so differently. Miss Riefenstahl portrayed people of all races and nations at the most sublime pinnacle of their own perfection, while a few years later Walt Disney and the Warner Brothers gave us buck-toothed Japanese midgets and paunchy German robots as The Inhuman Enemy. Today, however, it is SHE who is reviled. The more things change ... the more they remain the same
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I watched this film in my International Cinema class, and it was quite interesting. The movie starts out rather oddly, with naked bathing men and about 8 dialogue-free minutes of various people working out. The best part of this film (for me) is near the end. It was the men's high-dive section. Leni set the camera up under the divers and, as they fall, they look as if they're flying. The viewer loses almost all sense of which way is down as they watch the diver tumbling/soaring through the air.
Another enjoyable part is the horse-riding section, which plays out similar to an ESPN blooper reel, with riders falling from their horses on difficult jumps. But in this film, it's much more gorgeous through the help of slow motion and fairly tight framing.
All in all, a well crafted documentary. -
planktonrules1 December 2011For the most part, this is just a continuation of the first part of "Olympia"--a documentary about the 1936 Berlin Olympics made by the notorious Leni Reifenstahl. Unlike her slobbering lover letter to Hitler in "Triumph of the Will", the "Olympia" films are NOT filled with German propaganda but are incredibly artistic films. They are filled with some of the best camera-work you'll ever see--and put more modern Olympic documentaries to shame in this regard. The films are gorgeous.
The film begins with a lot of nudity--just like "Part One". This time, it's full of naked men doing all sorts of outdoorsy things--swimming, lounging, running and hanging out in the sauna. While it was not intended, there sure seemed to be a strong homo-erotic quality about it. But I assume the real purpose was to show an idealized view of modern Germans--like they are descendants of the original Greek athletes. Regardless, it's a lot of naked blond men cavorting about...artistically.
Like "Part One", following this very artsy beginning, the rest of the film is a straight documentary showing the various Summer Olympic events. In all cases, the camera-work was brilliant. But the ones that REALLY struck me were the yachting scenes. How Riefenstahl and her crew did these shots is a mystery. I THINK they tagged along in boats and shot some of the scenes with a telephoto lens. Others, I suspect, were re-created for the film to give it added close-up realism. Regardless, the camera shots were amazing.
Unfortunately, however, like "Part One", the film got VERY dull because just showing event after event got tedious--especially since the viewers have no idea who any of these folks are and the events occurred 73 years ago. Of course it looked great and was supremely composed...but still kind of dull. My feeling is that if you are a film snob, cinemaniac or appreciate art films, watch this and the first installment. Others might just find it a tough viewing.
By the way--get a load of the gymnastic events. First, the participants were only men. Second, they all performed outdoors! Interesting how times have changed! -
jboothmillard14 September 2017I found this German film in the book 1001 Movies You See Before You Die, it was made in three versions, in German, English and French, and you can watch it as a full 3 hours 26 minutes movie, or in two parts, written, directed and produced by Leni Riefenstahl (Triumph of the Will). Basically Olympia, or Olympiad, was the first documentary feature film of the Olympic Games ever made, documenting the 1936 Summer Olympics, held in the Olympic Stadium in Berlin, Germany, this was during the time of Nazi Germany, under the dictatorship of Adolf Hitler, obviously the Olympics Games of 1940 and 1944 were cancelled due to World War II. Festival of Beauty opens with images of the Olympic athletes training, stretching and relaxing, then the games continue. Commentators from around the world cover the many sporting events, the sports included in Part Two are gymnastics (pommel horse, rings, parallel bars and uneven bars), sailing, fencing, boxing, pentathlon, shooting, the 4000-meter cross country race, sprinting, shot put, 400 metres, hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin, decathlon, hockey, polo, football (or soccer), cycling, horse riding (equestrian), rowing, diving (board) and swimming. It ends with the ringing of the large Olympic bell, and the Olympic flag and the many country flags lowering. In Part Two, spectators seen in the audience include Adolf Hitler, Joseph Goebbels and Hermann Göring, and athletes seen competing include GB's Jack Beresford, Germany's Konrad Frey, USA's Cornelius Johnson and USA's Jesse Owens. The film was commissioned by Hitler "as a song of praise to the ideals of National Socialism", Riefenstahl was supplied with 30 cameramen, as well as planes and airships, the film is obviously full of bad taste material for modern audiences, but with interesting sporting events, and more importantly groundbreaking filming techniques, including unusual camera angles, smash cuts, extreme close-ups, tracking shots and aerial shots, it is considered one of the best documentaries ever made. Very good!
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TheOtherFool16 August 2004If Olympia 1 - Fest der Volker - was just a piece of documentation on the athletics of the 1936 Olympics, The 'Fest der Schönheit' is more than that, as it hails the human body and it's capabilities. Among other things, it shows us the preparation of the sportsmen and women, as well as gymnastics and horse-riding.
In a way I feel too much is said and thought about Riefenstahl's and Olympia's connection to Nazi propaganda. Although that link is more apparent than in it's first part, the Fest der Schönheit isn't as compelling or scary (after 70 years) as the Triumph of the Will... Maybe it's not as important either?
A beautifully made documentary with a story of it's own, but it's hard to judge Riefenstahl on just this movie. It really isn't as charged as a lot of people have in mind...
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gbheron30 March 2000Olympia Part I has the feel of a modern highlights film while Part II does not. Part II seems classier. Maybe it's a changed state of mind as I viewed the two parts a month apart. Perhaps it's because Part II has a greater variety of sports. Part I is all track and field while Part II contains esoteric sports such as sailing and the biathlon (or whatever the sport is called with all the running and shooting). Whatever it is, Part II is the better of the pair, although neither are something to get worked up over.
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nickenchuggets13 May 2022Almost a year ago at this point, I took a look at part 1 of Leni Riefenstahl's Olympia: a film documenting the one and only time the Olympic Games were hosted by Hitler's Reich. Aside from the sheer novelty of it being filmed in Nazi Germany, the movie is pretty typical and mostly just focuses on the events themselves, like any good Olympics film should. Riefenstahl employed various innovative camera techniques in order to make the movie as aesthetically pleasing as possible, such as putting cameras on balloons, boats, and even underwater. This second part of Olympia is quite similar to the first, in that it focuses on the sporting events themselves and makes no mention of one of national socialism's core beliefs: the white race being superior to all others. For viewers not familar with movies made in Germany from 1933 to 1945, it will probably surprise them to know the vast majority weren't racist in nature. Some of the events shown in this movie are a soccer match between Italy and Austria (Italy wins unsurprisingly), a horse race, a bike race, oarboat racing, and the Decathlon, which is characterized by events such as the discus, javelin throwing, and sprinting. Ironically, the Nazis were keen to use the Olympics as a showcase to the world that Germans were physically superior, but at the end of the decathlon, the top 3 athletes are all Americans. There's also quite a nice and memorable montage towards the end which shows people diving into a pool, which was probably symbolic as Leni was also a swimmer. You also take notice of the many, many times slow motion is put to great effect, since that always helps make things appear more dramatic. In between the events, we see the flags of the different countries participating, and Hitler is shown to be in the audience at one point. Apart from the footage of people competing in these various bicycle races, swimming contests, etc, there isn't a lot to say about the second part of Olympia. You would have to watch it for yourself to understand why it's quite an enjoyable movie, and this is coming from someone who really can't stand sports. It's just filmed in an exciting way and it gets the audience to care about the possible outcome, which I think is a testament to how talented of a filmmaker Riefenstahl was. Sadly, even after Germany was defeated, she could never seem to escape her dark past. She later said meeting with Hitler and being his favorite filmmaker was her biggest regret, since she knew people would always remember her as a nazi. They did. Her legacy hasn't changed, and to this day most people remember her as a propaganda maker, but Olympia deserves to be given attention because it is essentially the first true Olympics movie. I feel that good movies are hardly appreciated in their own time, and this one is no different. Leni was in America in Autumn 1938 to draw more attention to this film, but also around that time, Kristallnacht happened. Jewish owned stores across Germany were ransacked, burned, and had their windows smashed. Even though she had nothing to do with that, Riefenstahl was banished from the US and Olympia was quickly forgotten.
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frankde-jong26 September 2020"Olympia, Fest der Schönheit" is above all te sequel of the first episode "Fest der Völker" The structure is more or less the same. After an artistic beginning the movie becomes more or less an ordinary documentary where the Olympic disciplines are showed one after another.
Just as in the first episode the beginning is an ode to the (sometimes nude) athletic body. In "Fest der Völker" the inspiration for this was found in ancient Greece. In "Fest der Schönheid" the inspiration is found more northerly, a couple of athles relaxing in the sauna after a training.
After the beginning the film may be an ordinary documentary after today standards, but that does not detract from the fact that the film was very innovative in the year that it was released. Also in "Fest der Schönheit" there are innovative camera- angles, mostly in the swimming and rowing sections.
The most well known scenes, those about competition diving, are towards the end. They are aesthetically very pleasing. Those who have only seen these scenes probably holds the film in too high regard. -
wfgwilliams23 February 2007This is basically part 2 of Leni Riefenstahl's coverage of the 1936 Olympic Games. It has a very different feel and approach in comparison to the first film and very easily stands on its own apart from that film.
For one thing the propaganda in this film is very much less than in the first film. I spotted one swastika and I was looking for them. The political figures of the Third Reich, who make their presence obvious in the first film are absent in this one.
Where the first film covered many of the traditional track and field events in the stadium of the Olympics, this one covers gymnastics and many non track and field events.
Events covered include yacht races, rowing, a bicycle race, field hockey, soccer, the decathlon, some specifically military events, and men and women's diving. Additionally there are some equestrian events that I found particularly interesting.
Most of the events are accompanied with on the scene commentary and followed by announcing or presenting the medal winners. The exception to this comes near the end with the men's diving competition. This is presented to music and edited so that it looks more like aerial ballet than a sporting event.
I highly recommend this film. -
The Olympics year 1936. While Hitler and his ministers were celebrating their triumphs in portraying Germany as a modern and cultured nation, the perfect place on the face of the earth, unknown to the rest of the world, the imminent destruction and the future of some 50-60 million or more people who would die in coming years either on the war-zone or be murdered by the Nazi regime in concentration camps had begun taking shape underneath the calm and bright surface of those celebrations. The anti-semitic signs were removed, the gypsies and homeless were sent to labor camps, the streets were cleaned and adorned with flowers and the facades of all the edifices and most homes were proudly making statements in the reds and whites with Swastikas or rings on them, people were dancing, welcoming guests from all over the world with open arms and warm hearts, beer was flowing freely.. Hitler's Germany was jubilant.
While men and women of great dexterity and determination were getting ready for the greatest performance of their life, not far from the Olympic stadium, the Sachsenhausen concentration camp was being built. Leni Riefenstahl was getting ready with some 30+ cameras including underwater and underpit cameras to capture the grand symphony of this greatest sport event.
This is a part 2 of Olympia, a documentary that depicts the unequaled determination and strength of the men and women who partake in the various Olympic events. Once again, part 2 also captures and presents amazing shots taken at different unique angles, a quintessential of Leni that was rather unknown to the filmmaking back then, the motion synchronization, the superimposing images, the silhouettes, the slow motion of divers, the splash by swimmers, a jockey who almost gets trampled in the water, the tempo of the audience including the distraught of Hitler as America wins rowing and countries cheering their contestants, She was a creative genius and this is a work of a genius. Even today the aesthetics of this 1936 movie have remained unparalleled. Part 2 is actually in color.. A must see. -
RussianPantyHog10 July 2005In a world where female directors ARE discriminated against and always have been it's a tragedy that this genius (Riefenstahl) destroyed her reputation by working for the Nazis. I've seen both the Olympiad films and they left me chilled, inspired, and ashamed of myself for being inspired by them. It is quite vicious and unashamed white-supremecist propaganda, but by God it's done well. I'm wondering if the so-called "olympic ideal" EVER existed now? Are the olympics about sport, or just a huge great marketing vehicle? Nowadays it's Coca-Cola & Nike; back in the 1930s it was Hitler and the Nazi Party. The 'message' of Olympiad is that National Socialist Germany is the highest evolution of human society and that Aryan supermen dominate sport. Riefenstahl did a brilliant job of presenting this case and I'm sure that to many people it seemed reasonable and seductive; but that was before Blitzkrieg and the Holocaust. It IS a wonderful film and Leni Riefenstahl was one of the most talented movie directors who ever lived, but let's never forget she was also a collaborator in this most evil of all regimes. My belief has always been that she knew exactly what Hitler was up to and happily took part because she never thought she'd be held to account for it. By all means watch Olympiad and be enthralled by it (just like I was) but remember, this is the devil's work - and it could happen again.
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The 80-year-old, 90-minute "Olympia 2. Teil - Fest der Schönheit" or "Olympia Part Two: Festival of Beauty" is centenarian Leni Riefenstahl's sequel to "Olympia 1. Teil - Fest der Völker" and this one here focuses more on beauty as the title already says. However, that did not keep Riefenstahl from adding sports such as rowing. Oh well, some may even find this beautiful from an aesthetic perspective. But seriously, stuff like high diving included here justifies the title, even if there are certainly better ways to categorize what is in the first film and what is in here. The choice that makes probably the most sense is that athletics were in the first film and everything else is in here, such as cycling, fencing, football and a lot more. And just like with the first, it is once again a fairly neutral documentary, no propaganda like some of the films Riefenstahl made before the Olympic Games of 1936. French, British and American winners are shown. And this film is also after Riefenstahl's acting career. She had been Hitler's favorite filmmaker for a while already when she made this film. I must say I enjoyed this sequel, but not as much as the first. The closing ceremony at the end of the first film seemed like decent closure to the subject, but yes there is another film. It runs roughly 30 minutes shorter than the first though. But I guess it is okay, justice done to the winners and competitors that weren't show in the first film. Overall, this is an inferior sequel as it maybe tries to include too many sports in too little runtime and lacks further elaboration on the champions and contests, something I really liked about the first. Nonetheless, this was a really good watch and I recommend checking it out. Also one of the most defining sports documentaries in history. Thumbs up.
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Bernie44448 January 2024I can not speak for other versions for this is the one I saw. As you can see from the front cover that this film has been digitally remastered under the supervision of Leni Riefenstahl.
The film opens up with a film tribute to the history of Greece and the games. We get to see the names of the nations at the time that the torch passes through as it reached Berlin. A much more realistic torch than today's is running into the stadium with a few pauses to let everyone see just before the final dash to the Olympic torch at the stadium. It would be great to recapture this in the present day. Some of the tribute leads me to believe that our athletes are overly clothed for the sports.
It may be unique reasons that brought you to this point such as Leni or photography, or interest in history, or, or, or. But once the action starts you feel that you are there and get lost in the "who will win what and how." Even being aware of the outcome does not prepare you to "not bite your nails" as you watch each athlete barely besting the next until it is over too soon. I noticed that instead of placing medals over the winners, they used laurel wreaths.
Any way you cut it, this movie is worth watching. -
chaos-rampant15 July 2012This is the one to watch, Riefenstahl's masterpiece. Das Blaue Licht is great but dares less. You know about Triumph; people being choreographed to embody a new identity, destructive and all that.
Olympia Part I had moments of beauty but it was constrained in key ways. It was constrained by Hitler being there. By nations parading and saluting. You could not fail to note that all of it, much more subtle than Triumph, in the end impressed as a show staged to promote a German image, much more subtle because the image was of normalcy and spontaneous celebration.
This is a different thing. You probably know that Riefenstahl was a dancer before making her transition to film, you can see her dance in one of her first films as an actress. All of her own films are about choreographed sculpted form, but this is the one most purely about cinematic dance and the body.
Eisenstein filmed active crowds in radical collision that creates a world (now his devices are every bit as commonplace as Riefenstahl's but in a different milieu). She films crowds as cheerful observers of vigor. Most of all, she films the body as the fulcrum of harmonious expression that seduces the camera that seduces us seeing and being affected by this. It doesn't matter if the world is changed, or maybe she trusted that it had a few years back, it only matters that the soul - theirs at the moment, ours cinematically - can brush against the heavens.
Each sport is a framework that dictates its own dance. Each dance is slightly different and calls for a different camera. The body is free but within confines of the sport. The camera is similarly free to draw its dynamic calligraphy within edges of the frame.
In the regatta for instance, white sails group and re-group in swanlike formations and contrast with sailors throwing their weight around the boats and pulling ropes. Cyclists and rowers pass one the other in horizontal forward-dashing and overlap. Boxers are locked in gristly tango. Horse-riders glide over mud as though skating inches above-ground. The gymnastics are all about eddy and suspension in mid-air. In the polo sequence, the dance is all between tracing the zigzag flow of the game and Kurosawa-like whip-pans of the riders smashing against vertical beams in the far background. Other sequences like swimming and football are less interesting.
Above all, of course, stand the celebrated divers. You can tell that Riefenstahl loved them (she counted an Olympic medalist diver among her lovers) by how imaginatively she filmed this bit and saving it for last. This notion is never more clear, of a camera that dances with and decides the weight of its partner. She achieves here pure weightlessness.
In light of this, the closing ceremony of fire and celestial light - now common tropes of Olympic shows - is on top of ludicrous simply redundant. Her explicit bits of Wagnerian worldview are the least interesting of her work, always were. Yes, Nazis must have been enormously pleased by her artistry of transcendent sensuality. It still looks dull-witted and overwrought.
On the flipside of that is her floating calligraphic eye that was unparalleled at this time. -
st-shot29 November 2020Part 2 of Leni Riefenstahl's documentary on the 1936 Olympics shows no sign of fatigue as she takes up where she left off with the same energy and grace to be found in the first section. In the second section more emphasis is given to the physique of the athletes that Riefenstahl gracefully captures in a poetic slo-mo of divers and gymnasts among others while being equally adept at editing furiously paced bike rides and steeplechases. With its more restrained opening, placing more attention on the athlete than the fan and celebrating rather than reportage "Beauty" might outshine "Nations" slightly but neither shortchanges. A classic documentary with or without its other half.
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Michael_Elliott10 August 2008Olympia 2 (1938)
**** (out of 4)
The second part of Riefenstahl's documents of the 1936 Berlin Olympics. I enjoyed this "sequel" a little less than the first film but that's not to say this one here isn't among the greatest films out there. The brilliant cinematography and editing are still here but the focus on the sports is quite differently. The first film mainly focused on track and field but this one goes for a wider range of events including a cross country trip, which ends with the runners falling from exhaustion. Also on display are gymnastics, which contain perhaps the greatest visuals of either film and perhaps the greatest of any film. I've watched gymnastics on various sports channels including ESPN and after watching this movie all I can say is that these people really need to study what's on display here. It's rather amazing at how brilliant this stuff looks compared to today and especially all the slow-motion treats, which really capture and show how incredibly skilled these athletes are. Diving, swimming, decathlon, field hockey and shooting are also on display here. The incredible beauty of this film makes it seem like all the shots were rehearsed and even the action was staged but of course this isn't true and this here just makes the film shine even more. All the controversy that has surrounded Riefenstahl is certainly wanted but it's a shame that this takes away from her incredible gift as a director. I always say ones personal life shouldn't come between the art and here is another stunning example of that. -
Sargebri23 February 2004This is a fairly good companion piece to the first film. Even though it doesn't have the emotional impact of Jesse Owens exploits you did get to see some of the great performances that took place during "Hitler's Games". This film and the first film will always be remembered as two of the greatest sports documentaries every produced.