Yes it is an excellent movie with none other than Leni Riefenstahl who died in 2003. The film is from the end of the silent movie era so 1931. I sampled a tiny bit for a movie we made a couple of years back:
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
davidof wrote:
Yes it is an excellent movie with none other than Leni Riefenstahl who died in 2003.
That'll be the Leni Riefenstahl, maker of Nazi proganda films who went to her grave in 2003 declaring that Hitler was a jolly nice chap and much understood would it?
Not sure I want to see a skiing version of Triumph of the Will!
As of last season there was only one surving member of the film still living.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Ignoring the politics (yeah, I know) it is a stunning piece of cinematography given the equipment used by both skiers and photographer. It does show that many of the 'Ski Vid Dudes' still have a lot to learn and are f'in lucky to enjoy equipment that is both portable and mostly automatic. I've a '59 Linhof 4.5 that I'm determined to drag up the hill this season . . . just wish I could afford a digital back for it, £12K and each image 60MP RAW . . . count those zits in the portraits - Hell, you can see the pores breathing
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Masque wrote:
Ignoring the politics (yeah, I know)
I'm not sure there are any politics to to this film which is part of a series of German "mountain epics" filmed at the time. It is just that one of the actors was later an active supporter of Hitler and the Nazi party but the film was released 2 years before Hitler came to power. Riefenstahl hadn't met Hitler at the time the movie was made.
After all it is free
After all it is free
davidof, That's pretty much my point, if we can't appreciate the skill of Leni Riefenstahl without forever linking and judging her solely to a very small part of her portfolio, then we're just as small minded as those that used her talents at the time.
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Fair point re the politics, for some reason I read 1931 as 1939 when I read the thread - must have been seeing red when I saw Riefenstahl's name.
She is/was a remarkable film maker there's no denying that so I'm sure the film is shot very well, I just have a problem with her later alleigances and more so that she was one of the few former Nazis (outside the top echelons) not to voice some regret at what happened after the war.
Have to admit I am intrigued to hear about the film, particularly given it pre-dates 1933!
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What a fantastic bit of film.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
roga,
I agree her politics were odious but does this mean we should not look at her work. There have been quite a few artists with equally odious or bizarre politics who people have no problems viewing. Wagners opinions on race and particularly Jewishness seem to have been a foreruner of the Nazis but his works have been heard in Israel.
A tremendous bit of film and some wonderful skiing.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
Leaving all politics aside, that's just brilliant. Some extremely skilled skiing and filming. Would love to find a full res dvd version. And those folks were using 1930s kit in some variable conditions, not a piste basher in existence and a whole load of walking up.
Tremendous.
We have it too easy!
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
T Bar, I think Wagner was played in the death camps. IIRC, Daniel Barenboim fought a courageous campaign to have Wagner performed in Israel.
I have a full length NTSC VHS cassette of this film which I bought at the New Hampshire Ski Museum at Cannon Mountain when I visited there 4 years ago. The skiing scenes in it are really outstanding.
For those who don't know the background to this film, it was made by the director Dr Arnold Fanck (N.B NOT directed by Leni Riefenstahl - at this stage in her career she was still an actress). Dr Fanck was renowned for his skiing and mountaineering films made in the 1920s and early 1930s. In particular his 1920 film "Das Wunder des Schneeschuhs" and part 2 of the film of the same name made in 1922 did much to popularise skiing at the time, with its innovative use of slow motion cinematography to display the grace of skiing. These films (and Der Weisse Rausch) featured the great Hannes Schneider, founder of the Arlberg Ski School in St Anton (who also virtually founded alpine skiing in Japan after a visit there in the 1930s).
There is no political theme in any of these films, but it is interesting to note that allegedly Hannes Schneider did not get on well with Leni Riefenstahl during the making of Der Weisse Rausch. Of course, as some people here on Snowheads will know, after Austria was annexed by Germany in 1938 Hannes Schneider was arrested for his anti Nazi views, and it was only because of his world renown and pressure from his friend in other countries that he was allowed to leave and travel to the USA, where he settled in New Hampshire and spent the rest of his life, see here
Interesting to see from pam w's post that it seems the film is now available on DVD (incidentally it is a sound film, but the sound is pretty primitive - bear in mind it was made in 1931!)
Last edited by Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name: on Sat 30-09-06 20:16; edited 1 time in total
Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
stanton,
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Alastair Pink, thanks for that, vey interesting indeed and I'll obviously be okay watching it then
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Fair point re the politics, for some reason I read 1931 as 1939 when I read the thread - must have been seeing red when I saw Riefenstahl's name.
You were quite right to put in the caveat about Riefenstahl.
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
stanton, I hadn't heard of it. The clip is fantastic - a good reminder that modern technology skis and clothing were not required to have fun on the snow.
After all it is free
After all it is free
Wow, fantastic clip and some excellent ski footage . well done Stanton for finding it and others for adding their comments to bring it to life on here.
I thought a couple of them were in the back seat a bit and could do with some lessons - what did others think ?
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
Ray Zorro, Considering they were mostly skiing in wellies fastened with baler twine to fencing rails, I didn't think theu looked toooo bad
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Ski the Net with snowHeads
Sorry to be controversial, but anyone who colluded with Hitler can fairly be judged first and foremost for their motivation for that.
Yes, Leni Riefenstahl's skills and creative talents were outstanding, as were many other technicians of Nazism and the Final Solution. Unfortunately that mastery was mis-applied.
Yes, it's possible to view her work dispassionately from its sinister objectives - she was a remarkable filmmaker of aesthetic genius. Can someone remind me of her remorse for the massive crimes which she helped to promote?
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
David Goldsmith wrote:
Sorry to be controversial
You, controversial, perish the very thought!
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
Went to a screening of White Noise in London a few years back that was put on by the Tirol Tourist Board. This was a re-edited version of Der Weisse Rausch put to more funky music. Very entertaining stuff.
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
davidof wrote:
You were quite right to put in the caveat about Riefenstahl.
Thanks, I think it's always worth remembering particularly when someone is as unapologetic as Riefenstahl.
I've watched the film now and it's an impressive piece of work, made all the more palatable for me by the directors political stance I have to admit. I can see something of an expressionist influence in there, particularly in the very imaginative bedroom jump sequence as well as in some of the quick cuts and shots of the ski action. All the more ironic that Riefenstahl is in the film given the fact that expressionism was outlawed as "decadent art" after the Nazis came to power - mind you I think it can be argued that Riefenstahl herself showed some of the same influences in her later Nazi propaganda films, irony on irony!
David Goldsmith wrote:
Sorry to be controversial, but anyone who colluded with Hitler can fairly be judged first and foremost for their motivation for that.
I totally agree David but that doesn't make her films bad, it perhaps makes them and her even more odious though!
Quote:
Yes, Leni Riefenstahl's skills and creative talents were outstanding, as were many other technicians of Nazism and the Final Solution. Unfortunately that mastery was mis-applied.
Agreed.
Quote:
Yes, it's possible to view her work dispassionately from its sinister objectives - she was a remarkable filmmaker of aesthetic genius.
Personally I think it's probably useful to differentiate between her work as an actress in something like this in the pre-NAZI era and the outright propaganda she made later. Particularly when, as has now been pointed out to me, the director was an anti-NAZI who fled Germany when Hitler came to power. However I can understand how some people might find this film unpalatable because of her presence in it. She was after all an active cheerleader for Hitler and, importantly, never voiced any regret at the crimes of the NAZI regime... rather the opposite to be honest.
I think it's good that we're having this conversation to be honest as it shows that many people here are aware of how controversial a figure she is and nobody, thank goodness, has defended her.
Quote:
Can someone remind me of her remorse for the massive crimes which she helped to promote?
She had none whatsoever which I think is an important point to remember even if looking at her pre-1933 career.
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
I found a few more clips from the "mountain movies" (I don't know if these are on the riefenstahl site cited above).
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