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Introduction / Description
Olympia was not the first film of Riefenstahl’s to be commissioned by Hitler after his rise to power. Hitler’s rise placed him at the head of the National Socialist Party. ... Riefenstahl’s previous three films, as Susan Sontag (1989, Pg. ... There is controversy surrounding the creation of Olympia as is also pointed out by Sontag in her book Under The Sign of Saturn (1989).
Riefenstahl has maintained in interviews since the 1950s that Olympia was commissioned by the International Olympic Committee, produced by her own company, and made over Goebbels [The Minister in charge of Hitler’s propaganda machine]. The truth that Olympia was commissioned and entire financed by the Nazi government (a dummy company was set up in Riefenstahl’s name because it was thought unwise for the government to appear as the producer) and facilitated by Goebbels’s at every stage of the shooting; (Sontag, S 1989: Pg. 80)
On one hand here the idea the Riefenstahl made Olympia relatively free of Propagandistic influence is put forward, by Riefenstahl (as we are told) herself. ... Riefenstahl made good use of the low ASA of the early black and white film that was available in the masking of the identity of the shapes in the setting. ...
Reflection on the content and references.
Riefenstahl, in using the references to the Ancient Greeks, is reminding the viewer of the splendour, achievement and beauty of the Grecian Empire and the people themselves. ...
Riefenstahl, by using these images and ideas in relation to the German People and their hosting of the Olympic games, likens the present day Germans to the Ancient Greeks. ...
One a simpler level, Riefenstahl states that (according to Sontag) the film is merely a celebration of the body, its beauty, splendour and physical prowess. ... Riefenstahl also uses footage of Jesse Owens, the black American athlete whom Hitler would not acknowledge, in the same manner as she portrays the Greeks and Germans. ... Yet it can also be argued that Riefenstahl was still Fascist in the way she viewed the human body, despite elements of ethnicity, all that mattered to her was the perfection and beauty in a body.
Approximate Word count = 1793
Approximate Pages = 7.2
(250 words per page double spaced)
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