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starring: David Albritton, Jack Beresford, Donald Finlay (II), Wilhelm Frick, Josef Goebbels
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: VHS Tape
EAN: 9786304459003
Format: Black & White, NTSC
ISBN: 6304459009
Label: Homevision
Manufacturer: Homevision
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Homevision
Release Date: June 20, 2000
Running Time: 111 minutes
Sales Rank: 41848
Studio: Homevision
Theatrical Release Date: March 08, 1940
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Editorial Review:
Description:
Controversial director Leni Riefenstahl, whose Triumph of the Willchronicled the infamous Nuremberg Rally, was commissioned by the Olympic Committee to document the 1936 Berlin Olympiad. Released in April, 1938, after 18 months of editing, Riefenstahl's impressive two-part record of the event was instantly recognized as a masterpiece of photography and sound. Nevertheless, Olympia was shunned by Hollywood--many considered it a hymn to Hitler's beliefs. Undimmed by the passing years, Olympia survives as a majestic celebration of the grandeur of the human body and spirit. Olympia I: Festival of the Nation includes the lighting of the torch at the stadium, track and field events, and the marathon. Adolf Hitler looks on in amazement as American sprint star Jesse Owens wins an unprecedented four Gold Medals.
Amazon.com essential video:
There is no other filmmaker remotely like Leni Riefenstahl, which is probably a good thing. The prodigiously gifted Riefenstahl, at Hitler's behest, transformed the 1934 Nuremberg rally into the stunning, terrifying documentary Triumph of the Will. Her next challenge was the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, a task she undertook with technical innovations and an unfailing aesthetic eye. The games are of historical interest; Berlin was where the black American runner Jesse Owens dominated his sport, much to Hitler's chagrin. But Riefenstahl's long film (it's often shown in two parts) is more than just a document. Olympia is also a delirious paean to movement, competition, and the human body. The diving meet becomes less a battle for medals and more a dreamlike series of shapes in mesmerizing motion. While Olympia has often been described as Riefenstahl's hymn to beauty, it is also her hymn to the possibilities of cinema, of the sheer magic of camera angle and rhythm and light. After two years of exhausting editing, the film premiered on April 20, 1938--Hitler's birthday. If only Riefenstahl had turned her back on her Führer, she might be remembered as one of the mightiest directors in film history, instead of the most notorious. As it is, Pauline Kael once described Riefenstahl's Triumph and Olympia as 'the two greatest films ever directed by a woman.' --Robert Horton
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - The photography lures you, action holds you.
1936 Olympics brought to life and made immortal. Leni uses every trick in the book and then invents a few to get just the right angle and lighting for each shot and then integrates them into a whole that make you feel that you are there.
The film opens up with a film tribute to the history of Greece and the games. We get to see the names of the nations at the time that the torch passes through as it reached Berlin. A much more realistic torch than today's is ran into the stadium with ... Read More
Rating: - Little Known Facts
This film as Triumph of the Will was ahead of its time. At any rate, I find it interesting that it seems everytime this film
comes up people almost invariably love to talk about how Jesse
Owens "proved" Hitler wrong by winning Gold several times.
However, They almost never mention the Fact that Germany won
more Gold, Silver, and Bronze Medals that Any other Nation in the 1936 Olympics!! Second point, Armchair historians who really
know Hitler not very well, misquote ... Read More
Rating: - Awesome
If schools (and much else besides) throughout the South can be named after people like Jefferson Davis and Nathan Bedford Forrest, then people can at least try to open up their minds and see this obvious masterpiece of twentieth century art. Riefenstahl's work on this thing is simply awesome. You're left weak and breathless in spots, watching this simultaneously powerful, sensual, artistic, ridiculous, and somehow weird paen to the human body and biokinetic aesthetics. It's all here: art deco, ... Read More
Rating: - Leni does it again
This actually a review of the PAL DVD that I purchased from Amazon-DE.
Leni Riefenstahl did a triumph with this series: slow motion photography mixed with standard speed shots to blend into a rich mixture for the eyes. Her editing is topnotch, scene after scene blend into the next.
Adolph is there. Jesse Owens is there. The Olympians are great. There is the hammer throw, discus, shotput. Where are ping pong and beach volley ball? This is classic Olympics, the real games ... Read More
Rating: - Really Amazing!! Good for whole family , but note caution...
I just watched this video with my family and we were truly amazed by its cinematic artristy and beauty. It was very interesting and educational as well. I have always enjoyed classic film, and wanted to see Riefenstahl's work. I have always been interested in WW2 as well, and for this reason was also interested in Riefenstahl's films. I was finally able to get copies of Triumph of the Will and Olympia thru interlibrary loan. We watched Triumph first, for it arrived first. We liked it well enough...a very ... Read More
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