Olympia (Bfi Film Classics)

Rating:
Summary: An exemplary study of one of cinema's most notorious works.
Review: In writing his monograph on 'Olympia', Leni Riefenstahl's epic record of the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games, Taylor Downing has to deal with questions most film critics don't face. Planned to glorify the Nazi regime, this Olympiad was the most spectacular yet, with massive new stadia built, state-of-the-art facilities provided for spectators and athletes, and ceremonies of extravagant pomp orchestrated by Albert Speer. Riefenstahl had Hitler's personal blessing to make the film, and was given unprecedented financial and administrative support to expose all this Aryan glory to the world.

Downing does full justice to this troubling film. He does not avoid its propaganda basis, and the best bits of the book narrate the historical context in which the film was made (Downing is the TV producer of politic-historical programmes like 'The Cold War'), sifting through the self-justifying rewriting Riefenstahl has been doing for decades.

But Downing is scrupolously fair to the film as a piece of Olympic film-making (Downing has co-ordinated the TV coverage for two Games). He shows how in itself, the film is a very fair representation of the event, with the amazing achievements of the African American athletes as celebrated as the German victories (which I hadn't noticed, suggesting I brought my own prejudices to the movie), in spite of the Nazis' racial 'theories' (although he could have mentioned that Jesse Owens' miraculous Games, hailed here as a victory of democracy over fascism, went unnoticed at home, and that he was reduced to racing dogs and horses for a livelihood). Indeed, he makes the telling point that it was the Americans, in 1984, who were first reprimanded by the International Olympic Committee for the excessive chauvinism of their TV coverage.

He is full of admiration for Riefenstahl's technical ingenuity, offering a fascinating potted history of Olympic film-making to date, revealing just how revolutionary the German was. As a fellow practitioner, he brilliantly explains the logistics of the shoot, the breakthroughs of new cinematic technology, the importance of the director's collaborators, and, valuably, the meaning of the varied stylistic choices Riefenstahl made. It seems odd, however, that he doesn't interpret her relentless fetishising of the human body as itself fascist - maybe he's right.

However, he doesn't change my own feelings for the film, the overwhelming unhealthiness of all that health. In fact, the one film this book has made me ache to see is not the Riefenstahl classic it's about, but Kon Ichikawa's film of the 1964 Tokyo Olympiad, which sounds fantastic.

Rating:
Summary: An exemplary study of one of cinema's most notorious works.
Review: In writing his monograph on 'Olympia', Leni Riefenstahl's epic record of the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games, Taylor Downing has to deal with questions most film critics don't face. Planned to glorify the Nazi regime, this Olympiad was the most spectacular yet, with massive new stadia built, state-of-the-art facilities provided for spectators and athletes, and ceremonies of extravagant pomp orchestrated by Albert Speer. Riefenstahl had Hitler's personal blessing to make the film, and was given unprecedented financial and administrative support to expose all this Aryan glory to the world.

Downing does full justice to this troubling film. He does not avoid its propaganda basis, and the best bits of the book narrate the historical context in which the film was made (Downing is the TV producer of politic-historical programmes like 'The Cold War'), sifting through the self-justifying rewriting Riefenstahl has been doing for decades.

But Downing is scrupolously fair to the film as a piece of Olympic film-making (Downing has co-ordinated the TV coverage for two Games). He shows how in itself, the film is a very fair representation of the event, with the amazing achievements of the African American athletes as celebrated as the German victories (which I hadn't noticed, suggesting I brought my own prejudices to the movie), in spite of the Nazis' racial 'theories' (although he could have mentioned that Jesse Owens' miraculous Games, hailed here as a victory of democracy over fascism, went unnoticed at home, and that he was reduced to racing dogs and horses for a livelihood). Indeed, he makes the telling point that it was the Americans, in 1984, who were first reprimanded by the International Olympic Committee for the excessive chauvinism of their TV coverage.

He is full of admiration for Riefenstahl's technical ingenuity, offering a fascinating potted history of Olympic film-making to date, revealing just how revolutionary the German was. As a fellow practitioner, he brilliantly explains the logistics of the shoot, the breakthroughs of new cinematic technology, the importance of the director's collaborators, and, valuably, the meaning of the varied stylistic choices Riefenstahl made. It seems odd, however, that he doesn't interpret her relentless fetishising of the human body as itself fascist - maybe he's right.

However, he doesn't change my own feelings for the film, the overwhelming unhealthiness of all that health. In fact, the one film this book has made me ache to see is not the Riefenstahl classic it's about, but Kon Ichikawa's film of the 1964 Tokyo Olympiad, which sounds fantastic.

Rating:
Summary: A great little book about a great big film
Review: Taylor Downing's 'Olympia' is one of an impressive series (BFI Film Classics) of books on great movies. These books, although concise and small in format, are excellently researched, formatted, and most importantly, well written treatments of film classics.

Downing's book provides a review of Riefenstahl's career leading up to the filming of 'Olympia', necessary background information to understand both her technical and artistic prowess as they reach the screen in this great documentary film. For those familiar primarily with 'Triumph of the Will', this portion of the book is particularly interesting.

The creative, fiscal, and technical challenges the director faced in bringing the 1936 games to the screen are discussed in fascinating detail. For those who see Riefenstahl as a puppet of the Nazi progpaganda machine, her run-ins with Goering are illuminative. The chapter on the 'plot' and aesthetics of the film are also very well-written and are a good overview for those who have not yet seen this groundbreaking sports documentary.

An appendix noting the different versions of the film presently in circulation would be welcome in the next edition of this fine book.

Rating:
Summary: A great little book about a great big film
Review: Taylor Downing's 'Olympia' is one of an impressive series (BFI Film Classics) of books on great movies. These books, although concise and small in format, are excellently researched, formatted, and most importantly, well written treatments of film classics.

Downing's book provides a review of Riefenstahl's career leading up to the filming of 'Olympia', necessary background information to understand both her technical and artistic prowess as they reach the screen in this great documentary film. For those familiar primarily with 'Triumph of the Will', this portion of the book is particularly interesting.

The creative, fiscal, and technical challenges the director faced in bringing the 1936 games to the screen are discussed in fascinating detail. For those who see Riefenstahl as a puppet of the Nazi progpaganda machine, her run-ins with Goering are illuminative. The chapter on the 'plot' and aesthetics of the film are also very well-written and are a good overview for those who have not yet seen this groundbreaking sports documentary.

An appendix noting the different versions of the film presently in circulation would be welcome in the next edition of this fine book.