Athens 2004, the 28th Olympiad starts at this very moment. The very person I can think of is the late 101-year-old controversial, influential and unbeatable Leni Riefenstahl, a poor wasted genius whose life and career were both 100% brutally ruined by a political party, or maybe herself too.
The fantastic and unforgettable dogme covers her life comprehensively since her rise to fame as an actress in silent movie until her most recent life in early 90's. No one would deny that she was a pioneer in film-making especially the technical aspect. Some of her invented methods are still widely adopted: burying a camera into the ground to shoot a running athlete etc. And again, sheerly from the artistic point of view, (sorry, Jewish friends), no one would deny her Olympia: Festival of the Nations + Festival of Beauty and Triumph of the Will are films which can successfully instigate the Aryan patriotism and emotion. Picture that, she had done all these in her thirties.
What hits people the most should be Riefenstahl's toughness and strong will. That's exactly what I envy of: her infinite energy and creativity. Though she failed to collect funds to produce films, she turned to African tribes, the underwater organism and we can still see her dazzling light in photography. She was full of humour, for instance, she told the dogme directors that she lied about her age (to be 20 years younger, "70") so she could dive into deep water at 90 in a childlike manner. She complained to the production crew that "talking while walking is like a talking vampire" that she didn't want to use the mic.
She may or might have created her own tragedy. "Wrong timing", I believe should be the most appropriate description of her life: she rose to fame too soon and rolled down from it too soon. RIP, Leni, you don't need to shoot anything about the 2004 Athens Olympic Games for anyone's ambition, including your own.
The fantastic and unforgettable dogme covers her life comprehensively since her rise to fame as an actress in silent movie until her most recent life in early 90's. No one would deny that she was a pioneer in film-making especially the technical aspect. Some of her invented methods are still widely adopted: burying a camera into the ground to shoot a running athlete etc. And again, sheerly from the artistic point of view, (sorry, Jewish friends), no one would deny her Olympia: Festival of the Nations + Festival of Beauty and Triumph of the Will are films which can successfully instigate the Aryan patriotism and emotion. Picture that, she had done all these in her thirties.
What hits people the most should be Riefenstahl's toughness and strong will. That's exactly what I envy of: her infinite energy and creativity. Though she failed to collect funds to produce films, she turned to African tribes, the underwater organism and we can still see her dazzling light in photography. She was full of humour, for instance, she told the dogme directors that she lied about her age (to be 20 years younger, "70") so she could dive into deep water at 90 in a childlike manner. She complained to the production crew that "talking while walking is like a talking vampire" that she didn't want to use the mic.
She may or might have created her own tragedy. "Wrong timing", I believe should be the most appropriate description of her life: she rose to fame too soon and rolled down from it too soon. RIP, Leni, you don't need to shoot anything about the 2004 Athens Olympic Games for anyone's ambition, including your own.