Olympia: Brilliant Cinematography or Nazi Propaganda?Essay title: Olympia: Brilliant Cinematography or Nazi Propaganda?Running Head: OLYMPIA: BRILLANT CINEMATOGRAPHYOlympia: Brilliant Cinematography or Nazi Propaganda?UniversityInstructor: ProfOlympia: Brilliant Cinematography or Nazi Propaganda?The name Leni Riefenstahl to some is an incredible gifted producer, to another the centurys most controversial filmmaker. “Olympia”, a sports documentary of the 1936 summer Olympics, regardless of politics is arguable one of the greatest sports documentaries every filmed. This film captures the 1936 Olympics in way no other film had ever been created during this time period. The unbiased portrayal of these Olympic athletes as shown through innovative camera angles, techniques and ahead of her time film editing has made this a film of all time.
Helena (Leni) Bertha Amalie Riefenstahl was born in 1902 into a middle class family in Berlin, Germany. Riefenstahl was educated at the Realgymnasium in Berlin, and studied art at the Kunstakadmie. In her early years her passions were sports and modern dance, which her father didnt agree with. Bound by eagerness she secretly took dance lessons at the Grimm-Reiter School. Despite her fathers protests, she pursued a career in dancing with her mothers blessing. If it had not been for a knee injury, some same she might have gone on to become a bright star in the dancing world.
Riefenstahl was the type of person who went after what she wanted. After the devastating knee injury she knew she wanted into the movie business. In the years to follow Riefenstahl had made three movies with Arnold Fanck, the founder of Bergfilm. One movie in particular The Holly Mountain was said to have been seen by Hitler who was an avid moviegoer and reader. Riefenstahl unfilled with the life of an actress wanted more; she wanted to become a producer.
In 1931 Riefenstahl directed her first film, Dam Blaue Licht “The Blue Light” which was produced, edited, and co-wrote with the Jewish film critic Bela Balazs, which was reissued in 1938 without Bela Balazs in the credits. The Blue Light won the Silver Medallion at the 1932 Biennalle in Venice. It was at this venue where Dr. Joseph Goebbels, the Minister of Propaganda and Hitler took an interest in Leni. It was said that Dr. Joseph Goebbels saw Riefenstahl as “the only one of all stars who understands us” (Liukkonen 1997-2007).
The film Triumph des Willens, is the film that brings Olympia into the debate of its very essence. Olympia like Triumph des Willens has only one thing in common, that is that they were both technical masterpieces. The similarities end there. Triumph des Willens is without a doubt a work of propaganda due to its one sided political interpretation of the Nazi regime. Later, Riefenstahl stated that she was forced to produce this film, and she might have acknowledged that Triumph des Willens was beneficial to the Nazi, as well as to her career as a film producer (Guttman 1994).
“Olympia”, there are two parts to this film. The first begins with Ancient Greece, documenting and bringing to life the ancient games in the city of Olympia. She continues with many of the field events of the 1936 Berlin games, which seem to make you feel as though you were there. Riefenstahls finds a way to epitomize the grace, sensuousness and taut, muscular efficiency of the male and female bodies. The second half features the track and field events of the Berlin Games. This film was considered a documentary but it was much advanced in that it incorporated methods of editing that were non-existent during this period. Riefenstahl had found a way to edit and add sound to produce a film that highlighted the most exciting events, as well as a smooth transition between events. She also in a very sophisticated manner, incorporated sound in the form of background music and narration (Riefenstahl 1993).
There are many arguments about this movie but the strongest support for propaganda is also the strongest support for non-propaganda and that is the “perceived objectivity of the film and what appears to be an unbiased representation of the athletes, nations and games in general” (Schneider/Stier 2001). Some keys points to keep in mind when trying to determine if Riefenstahl had in fact fallen under Hitlers powers and had very cleaverly incorporated some of the Nazi propaganda into the film might be: “(a) professionally, her instincts and insights were extraordinary, (b) she, demonstrated that she possessed the political skills to successfully arrange personal meetings with Hitler and, (c) she effectively orchestrated politics within the German Film Industry as well as within the Nazi Party to attain her production
(4). While the film uses only those details from the first two days of the production, it is still extremely important to note that Hitler’s death at the hands of the Gestapo, which was part of Operation Barbarossa, was not officially revealed until after the shoot.
1. ___________ (1). ______________________________________________________________________ 1. ___________ (1). ______________________________________________________________________ Some other sources cite a Hitler propaganda official, Dr. Otto von Mises, who was an early Nazi leader who worked with, and participated in, Hitler’s propaganda. He also claimed that Hitler had done a ‘great deed’ to make his “German nation” stand out. 2. ____________ (2). ______________________________________________________________________ 3. ____________ (2). ______________________________________________________________________ Some other sources cite a Nazi speech at the Institute of International Relations in February 1933 by the editor of “The Art of War” in which Hitler said that the Nazis “have only one way to keep us from coming to a better union which can lead to peace, which is a solution to the German question.” 4. _________________________________________________________________ (3). _________________________________________________________________ “There will never be a German state that cannot be saved by the will of its people.” –Hitler
The German Reich, the so-called Nazi regime, was founded on the principles of individual individual effort, personal freedom and individual self-interest but that principle, if applied properly, had become essentially a Jewish supremacist ideology which became so prevalent as a fundamental part of Nazi State formation that it would become synonymous with Nazi Germany. We need not wonder why Hitler chose to use this slogan of self-deception and individual sacrifice as the base of his attacks. The idea that we can be sure that there will always be one state which can produce a positive effect is a false one given the obvious history of this ideology which is now a common expression of German totalitarianism.
1. Hitler’s Victory, 1930-1944: A Propaganda Lie In the 1930s, two major sources noted that the Nazi National Socialism (Nazi Germany) was only on its way to victory in the Third Reich in 1930. 2. Propaganda, The Nazi Revolution, 1941-1945: A Propaganda Lie, 1946 By The author of Propaganda, a book on Nazi propaganda that was published last year in the German tabloid Bild and with the support of the German Chancellor and the head of the Reichsleiterate of German propaganda, Dr. Otto von Mises, who also founded the Institute for International Relations in Munich, called Adolf Hitler’s victory “a prophecy that was fulfilled in the end.” In his book, published on the eve of the election of the German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, the publisher of Propaganda, and the head of the Institute for International Relations confirmed the story of Hitler’s victory. “His victory, according to our view, must be a prophecy to us, one that must be fulfilled or otherwise in an entirely different sense in the future,” the publisher wrote. The article did not specify how such a prophecy would be fulfilled (Schröder 1981). 3. Propaganda, The German Victory, 1941-1944: Propaganda, 1941-1945: By The authors of Propaganda, a book published last September in the German tabloid Bild, Dr