robert_jones8 Posted July 23, 2002 Share Posted July 23, 2002 In the 1937 preface to the first edition of this book, Leni Riefenstahl remarked 'it is the timeless document of a great idea -- ahymn to beauty and competetive endeavour.' Sixty-five years later, the graceful images of athletes competing in the 1936 Berlingames has more than withstood the test of time and validated Riefenstahl's original estimation of this work's ground-breakingimportance, not only as a document, but as an exercise in the aesthetics of the idealised beauty of the human body inmovement. Leni Riefenstahl was something of a Renaissance woman: Photographer, motion picture director, editor, dancer, skier, andall-around athlete, no one could have been a better match for documenting the 1936 Olympics on film, from which stills wereculled to create this volume. True to the spirit of Ancient Greece, it is fitting that it was captured on silver nitrate by this giftedcinematographer christened Helene (her birth name, for which 'Leni' is a German nickname). Actually, the term 'stills' does injustice to the photographs contained with -- so alive are they, capturing the essence ofathleticism and motive power. The beginning of the book is devoted to Ancient Greece, and documenting the ruins which monumentalise her greatness: TheParthenon, Myron's discus thrower, the gods, such as Apollo and Achilles. Riefenstahl has brought many of the famous statuesof athletes alive, as she photographs naked men and women engaged in the ancient sports, such as the javelin throw, the shotput, eurythmics, dance and the discus throw. Her athletes epitomise the grace, sensuousness and taut, muscular efficiency of themale and female bodies. Another striking sequence is of the young Greek torch bearer, who ignites the torch at Athens and delivers it on his long routethrough Thermopaylae, the Grecian shore, Delphi and Corinth. The poise and determination in the runner's body and eyesconvey the Olympic spirit with the same glowing certitude as the eternal flame, which the runner holds aloft like a beacon in thenight. Once in Berlin, the bulk of this volume is dedicated to the athletes themselves. Leni's cameramen captured all the events, andsome of the images are just astounding for their sense of motion and eloquent simplicity of composition. Among my favouritesare: p. 60, the Flame from Greece, which shows a German youth standing before the crowd of athletes, holding the flame erectbefore lighting the stadium torch; p.62, Start of the 80 meter hurdles, as seen from the timekeeper's point-of-view, the linesdemarcating the oval track's lanes sweep into a bird's eye view of the pensive hurdlers as they await the starter's gun; p. 68,Jesse Owens in the starting blocks, the great athlete is the very embodiment of concentration; pp. 98, 99, German GiselaMauermayer, discus thrower, shows the female athlete in motion, and in joyous release on her way to the gold medal; p. 137,shadows of marathon runners, which convey the fleeting rush of the events; p. 247, finale, which shows the BerlinOlympicstadion encircled by pillars of searchlights just before the flame is extinguished. 'Olympia' is, to me, the greatest expression of graceful motion ever captured by a photographer. A tone poem for camera,these images better convey the concept of motion than 99% of the movies today, which are motion pictures in name only. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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