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Wednesday, February 24, 2021
Leni Riefenstahl shot this in 1938 during her stint as a Nazi propaganda film maker.
Filmed at the Kurisches Nehrung (Kurland Lagoon) East Prussia, now in north-east Poland and the Kaliningrad (Koenigsberg) region of Baltic Russia. Leni used some local athletes and the German Olympian Erwin Huber for this prologue of her Olympia film. The film was financed by the German government at a cost then of 3 1/2 million marks a large sum for a film at that time in Germany. To put it in context at that time 1936, a feature film with big name stars in Germany would cost between 250,000 to 350,000 German marks. So, Leni had a budget to make 10 feature length films ! Remember she is basically making a sport documentary film and documentaries because they use no big-name, expensive film stars or elaborate sets, are among the least expensive films to make. Leni always claimed the money came from the studios UFA and Tobis. BS-the German film companies were careful with money, shall we say tight-fisted with their budgets. For Leni I have very mixed feelings. Disgust at her support for that evil regime. Her claims of Goebbels harassing her, when in fact he gave her carte blanche to do what she wanted on the Olympia film. He only got mad at her for demanding more monies and going to Hitler when she didn't get her way. Most of that extra money she spent on lavish gifts and entertainment for herself and those around her. Not to mention the state of the art home with a film and editing lab in Dahlem, the Beverly Hills of Berlin, built just for her at a costly sum by the Regime. She had to put up with sexism from the older film men that she wanted to hire (The older generation at that time would not let a woman be "boss") Instead, she got younger film people who proved their talent. Some of the effects in the Olympia film were actually devised by them and not Leni, who liked to take full credit. A very complex lady ! Rj in the IE
I never quite understood why Nazi propaganda was often for the exposure of naked athlete bodies ...
ReplyDeleteSomething to do with "Aryan perfection." One look at Josef Goebbels put the lie to that one!
DeleteFilmed at the Kurisches Nehrung (Kurland Lagoon) East Prussia,
ReplyDeletenow in north-east Poland and the Kaliningrad (Koenigsberg) region of Baltic Russia.
Leni used some local athletes and the German Olympian Erwin Huber for this prologue of her Olympia film.
The film was financed by the German government at a cost then of
3 1/2 million marks a large sum for a film at that time in Germany.
To put it in context at that time 1936, a feature film with big name stars
in Germany would cost between 250,000 to 350,000 German marks.
So, Leni had a budget to make 10 feature length films !
Remember she is basically making a sport documentary film and documentaries because they use no big-name, expensive film stars
or elaborate sets, are among the least expensive films to make.
Leni always claimed the money came from the studios UFA and Tobis.
BS-the German film companies were careful with money, shall we say
tight-fisted with their budgets.
For Leni I have very mixed feelings.
Disgust at her support for that evil regime. Her claims of Goebbels harassing her, when in fact he gave her carte blanche to do what she wanted on the Olympia film. He only got mad at her for demanding more monies and going to Hitler when she didn't get her way. Most of that extra money she spent on lavish gifts and entertainment for herself and those around her.
Not to mention the state of the art home with a film and editing lab in Dahlem, the Beverly Hills of Berlin, built just for her at a costly sum by the Regime.
She had to put up with sexism from the older film men that she wanted to hire
(The older generation at that time would not let a woman be "boss")
Instead, she got younger film people who proved their talent.
Some of the effects in the Olympia film were actually devised by them and not Leni, who liked to take full credit.
A very complex lady !
Rj in the IE