"Schonheit im Olympischen Kampf" by Leni Riefenstahl. Berlin: Deutschen Verlag, (1937). First edition with 273 b&w photos.
Leni Riefenstahl was a world-famous actress, artist, photographer and film director. One of her pre-war successes was the documentary film called “Triumph of the Will,” about the 1934 Reich Party Congress in Nuremberg. Her filming expertise not only impressed Hitler but it also impressed the International Olympic Committee who commissioned her to produce a documentary about the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games. Her film, titled “Olympia,” was radically different from all sporting films made before it. She chose to highlight the aesthetics of the body by filming it from every angle. The film brought about new perspectives in cinematography and still remains without equal. It pioneered many of the techniques now common in the filming of sports.
Riefenstahl experimented with anything and everything available to her. Camera operators were placed into foxholes and trenches so they could film the Olympic athletes and minimize the disruptions to their levels of concentration. She used miniature cameras in situations where a human camera operator was not a practical solution. Camera units were placed on rails and they followed the athletes around the track as they ran. Additional camera operators were allowed to roam around in the audience to get good emotional and crowd reaction shots. During diving meets, a camera operator dove alongside the diver both above and below the water. No cameramen had ever been allowed to work so close to the athletes at any other Olympics. Sports imagery rose to new aesthetic heights.
“Although the film “Olympia” has become an acknowledged classic, her book of photographs, “Schönheit im Olympischen Kampf” (Beauty in the Olympic Games), is less known but no less spectacular. Sometimes Riefenstahl relied on poses modeled on the antique Greek ideal… But far more original were her depictions of superbly athletic bodies soaring gracefully through the air and knifing effortlessly through the water. Riefenstahl applied certain devices characteristic of the new German photography – strong diagonals, tight croppings, and bird's-eye and worm's-eye views. No longer was the camera an earthbound witness; it took to the air and the water with the athletes.” (Source: William A. Ewing, “The Body”).
Riefenstahl’s book is illustrated with 273 full-page, black & white photographs with picture captions in English, German, Spanish and French.
Riefenstahl’s film “Olympia” documenting the 1936 Summer Olympics may be viewed on youtube:
Olympia Part 1: Festival of Nations
www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLnGqMoNXRI
Olympia Part 2: Festival of Beauty
www.youtube.com/watch?v=usTPricF8qo
"Schonheit im Olympischen Kampf" by Leni Riefenstahl. Berlin: Deutschen Verlag, (1937). First edition with 273 b&w photos.
Leni Riefenstahl was a world-famous actress, artist, photographer and film director. One of her pre-war successes was the documentary film called “Triumph of the Will,” about the 1934 Reich Party Congress in Nuremberg. Her filming expertise not only impressed Hitler but it also impressed the International Olympic Committee who commissioned her to produce a documentary about the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games. Her film, titled “Olympia,” was radically different from all sporting films made before it. She chose to highlight the aesthetics of the body by filming it from every angle. The film brought about new perspectives in cinematography and still remains without equal. It pioneered many of the techniques now common in the filming of sports.
Riefenstahl experimented with anything and everything available to her. Camera operators were placed into foxholes and trenches so they could film the Olympic athletes and minimize the disruptions to their levels of concentration. She used miniature cameras in situations where a human camera operator was not a practical solution. Camera units were placed on rails and they followed the athletes around the track as they ran. Additional camera operators were allowed to roam around in the audience to get good emotional and crowd reaction shots. During diving meets, a camera operator dove alongside the diver both above and below the water. No cameramen had ever been allowed to work so close to the athletes at any other Olympics. Sports imagery rose to new aesthetic heights.
“Although the film “Olympia” has become an acknowledged classic, her book of photographs, “Schönheit im Olympischen Kampf” (Beauty in the Olympic Games), is less known but no less spectacular. Sometimes Riefenstahl relied on poses modeled on the antique Greek ideal… But far more original were her depictions of superbly athletic bodies soaring gracefully through the air and knifing effortlessly through the water. Riefenstahl applied certain devices characteristic of the new German photography – strong diagonals, tight croppings, and bird's-eye and worm's-eye views. No longer was the camera an earthbound witness; it took to the air and the water with the athletes.” (Source: William A. Ewing, “The Body”).
Riefenstahl’s book is illustrated with 273 full-page, black & white photographs with picture captions in English, German, Spanish and French.
Riefenstahl’s film “Olympia” documenting the 1936 Summer Olympics may be viewed on youtube:
Olympia Part 1: Festival of Nations
www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLnGqMoNXRI
Olympia Part 2: Festival of Beauty
www.youtube.com/watch?v=usTPricF8qo