I have, but in that case, the propaganda in service of evil is so overt, it's impossible to forget. Olympia, on the other hand, largely focuses on athleticism, so the shock of seeing Hitler, the Nazi salute, etc, is much more impactful.
Reifenstahl's techniques are influential, but I find the movie itself tedious, personally.
For me, what stays with me are the masterful aesthetics. It’s not only “influential”, as you say, it’s the DNA of great 20th century cinema. Think of how Fellini references its opening sequence in “La Dolce Vita.”
You probably know that in her early career Riefenstahl was an actress in the German mountain climbing / outdoor adventure films and did her own stunts, as was expected in that era.
When she became a director her personal experiences and whatever other core elements in her soul and Weltanshauung coalesced in some extraordinary alchemy that changed global cinema.
Back in the day, even when Riefenstahl herself was unable to work in the movie industry and her oeuvre was publicly suppressed, her films were kept alive as a guilty secret in core curriculum of the film schools of USC, UCLA and NYU. The countless Jewish students in those film schools who for decades studied her works of genius had no compunction about learning from her and adopting her techniques on their way to fame and fortune, and neither should we.
Good article! Have you ever seen Leni Riefenstahl’s masterpiece “Triumph of the Will”?
I have, but in that case, the propaganda in service of evil is so overt, it's impossible to forget. Olympia, on the other hand, largely focuses on athleticism, so the shock of seeing Hitler, the Nazi salute, etc, is much more impactful.
Reifenstahl's techniques are influential, but I find the movie itself tedious, personally.
For me, what stays with me are the masterful aesthetics. It’s not only “influential”, as you say, it’s the DNA of great 20th century cinema. Think of how Fellini references its opening sequence in “La Dolce Vita.”
You probably know that in her early career Riefenstahl was an actress in the German mountain climbing / outdoor adventure films and did her own stunts, as was expected in that era.
When she became a director her personal experiences and whatever other core elements in her soul and Weltanshauung coalesced in some extraordinary alchemy that changed global cinema.
Back in the day, even when Riefenstahl herself was unable to work in the movie industry and her oeuvre was publicly suppressed, her films were kept alive as a guilty secret in core curriculum of the film schools of USC, UCLA and NYU. The countless Jewish students in those film schools who for decades studied her works of genius had no compunction about learning from her and adopting her techniques on their way to fame and fortune, and neither should we.