different then zarah leander she did not even keep the most minimal distance to the regime of the nazis. unlike zarah leander she used the totalitarian system of the time directly for her purposes. and it is somewhat strange to see her paint herself as a victim... as seduced by adolf and his writings. well...

but then again i can just be very cautious. and i actually want to use the example of leni riefenstahl for two other purposes then slaging her of as an opportunist - for this we will have herr karl in the next post.

first her work and the reactions to it and the influence it has, the traces it leaves, is an interesting example to muse about art and society - or maybe formulated differently: aesthetics and the political system. the aesthetic of her films are called fascistic - but what does that mean? by showing the parteitag? does the topic make the aesthetic? by showing only beautiful, young, athletic people? hm, ever read vogue lately? the thing is that leni riefenstahl maybe would have made very similar movies in a different political environment. that thought makes her work actually more cynic... but it also shows how we try to distance ourselves, or rather try to draw lines where there aren't always some: a great aesthetic can show up on the wrong places.

the connection between art and society seems to be more complicated then "fascistic system=fascistic art". leni riefenstahl's movies were undoubtly one thing at her time: groundbreaking. and many art that was new and groundbreaking, from music to painting to literature to theater was made by artists with not necessarly good and right political attitudes. and anyway we will have a problem agreeing on what is good and right. maybe it boils down again to the questions if also artists which we hate can make art that is relevant, and how much an artist has a responsability as a citizen in his / her art. I just find it too easy to dismiss it as fascistic and also to insinuate the fascits had bad taste anyway - oilpaintings of the german forest and all that... the example that always springs to mind is the one of the futurists... have a look for yourself here - and be sure to read the introduction - down to the last sentence.

second there is something which fascinates me in the reception of leni riefenstahl. something that was for me maybe the first aspect of her work, but just rarely gets mentioned. it has something to do with the first picture not by her, but of her that i remember having seen:

yep, everybody might talks about the extreme aestheticism of her work - but what about...the sexyness of it all? allright, i was young, and i was terribly impressed to be able to stare at a naked man.

and this picture also denies this nakedness by her appearance and making clear that this colonial style dressed lady is hanging out with the primitives in africa - and has therefore a similar effect like the extreme aestheticism of most of her movies: it is so much about a certain beauty that it seems we do not even see that it is also about sexual attraction. which might be why it fitted so well with adolf: dreaming of this extreme militarise, homosocial society, singing the song of the beauty of the man - but of course deny that there could be something like a physical attraction where it should not belong. So i do find it overdue to point out also the sexyness of her olympia movie. and while totalitarian organisations will fight hard to draw a very clear line between homoscial and homoerotic (don't ask, don't tell), it is also interesting that critics of leni riefenstahls work do not like to admit this aspect of some of her films. it is kind of cute how to me it seems that everybody, for different reasons, wishes for a sanitized represantation of the physical: either to glorify it, or to condemn it. hardly anybody ever admits that it would be nice to explore these bodies of these burschen and mädels (of all races, mind you) with more then our eyes... again it seems rather irritating to admit that desire might transgress ideological lines. yes, we are back with - jean genet. is it allright to desire the political enemy? well, jean genet knew all along that politics are also always politics of desire...

and it is especially this aspect which shows up even more visible in one of the clearest examples of the appropriation of her work in pop culture. it is basically a cut up of snippets out of her movies. officially sanctioned by herself.

yeah, rammstein covering depeche mode to the images of riefenstahl. for me still a glorious moment of postmodernist pop culture. and rammstein are the perfect modern day example how desire just will not be acknowledged if it does not fit: using extensive homoerotic visuals in different ways, it is, when acknowledged, seen either as highly ironic, or as actually ridiculing fags. and the style always gets conflated with the question of the band being gay - which can not be, since they're not doing gay music, right? but while i do find the question if the members of the band are gay or not not so interesting (not true: i do quite like the singer and his, hm, jaded physique. definitly interesting), i do find the occurence of a certain homoerotic, even -sexual aesthetic quite interesting. there is the crass explicitly sexual example (which by its lyrics always seems to me a reply / modern version to soft cell's numbers), the somewhat odd example, by presenting a not so obvious choice of dominator. and then there is the downright irritating example which is somewhat lesser known - interesting enough this video is said to be one of their most controversial. hmmm...

i think what i want to get at is the idea that, although part of the fun of looking at the work of rammstein is their ambiguity, many videos allow for a reading that they try to install another gay aesthetic: a hard and sometimes cynic aesthetic, one that uses the vocabulary developed within totalitarian contexts. and here closes the circle again: while the homoerotic in leni riefenstahls work could be called "a necessary side effect", to me it seems that it is an integral part, and it is an integral part, but rather as a starting point for the aesthetic of rammstein. and it is intersting that many reactions to both aesthetics are very similar in denying this element. where we are back at the seemingly annoying quality of desire, and especially this queer one to not respect drawn lines...

The Nazi film TRIUMPH OF THE WILL by Leni Riefenstahl is revered as a classic in the history of cinematic manipulation... it is still studied in film schools all over the world.  The bottom line, Propaganda Films Work.

Turns out the Republican Party knows this as well, and is using the American Press to deliver political propaganda to citizens in swing states.  All it takes is cash.

A fear-mongering motion picture called OBSESSION: RADICAL ISLAM'S WAR AGAINST THE WEST

 is being distributed free on DVD in newspapers throughout election battleground states in an effort to scare voters into voting for McCain.  If you are interested in film as an influencer, you should read this LA TIMES article by DeeDee Correll.  

The film is produced by Clarion Fund.  28 million DVDs (yes... 28,000,000 DVDs) were included as advertising inserts in newspapers in vital swing states such as Ohio, Pennsylvania, Colorado, Michigan, Florida and North Carolina.  Clarion says the cost was in the "multi-millions" but won't give specifics and WON'T say where the money came from.  Nice... tell us again Senator McCain, about "Transparency"...

Some excerpts:

The News & Record in Greensboro, N.C., rejected the insert, calling the DVD "fear-mongering and divisive." 

"Of course, it's not free speech," wrote the paper’s editor, John Robinson, on his blog. 

"It's a paid advertisement making the case for one side of a complicated, controversial issue," he wrote, noting that the other side would go unheard unless it buys its own ads. 

He continued: "Newspapers decide not to publish information every day. Most of the time we call it news judgment." 

Some readers also haven't accepted newspapers' explanations for distributing the DVD.

"If I paid you to distribute an anti-Semitic DVD, would you be so obliging?" Laurel Thompson wrote in a letter to the editor of the Denver Post, which distributed more than 553,000 copies of the DVD in its Sept. 14 edition. "Or how about a DVD celebrating the courage of [Columbine High School killers] Harris and Klebold?"

Newspapers should not have accepted the advertising, said Marianne Weigand, 50, of Arvada, Colo., who complained to the Rocky Mountain News in a letter to the editor. 

If she wanted to watch such a film, she would have sought it out, she said.

"If you're going to send something out, it's a sample of Tylenol, not a movie full of something so violent, something that not everybody wants to watch," Weigand said. "It's propaganda about terrorism. . . . I don't see anybody benefiting from watching that."

The Republicans know that fear is their best (and only) selling tool... It has kept them in power for 8 years and was first proven to work in TV ads that got Reagan re-elected in 1984.

Lord knows the Republicans have shown themselves to be incompetent in handling natural disasters, foreign affairs, the economy and protecting the constitution... fear is all they have left to sell the American people.

Here's my problem: there is no downside for a political party if they lie to us, none whatsoever. Why is that?

If I park 5 minutes after 6 PM on my street in LA I get fined $35.  But if I spout outragious lies on public airwaves to get a candidate elected, there is no no judge, no jury, no consequences.

In theory, the media outlet is supposed to filter this, but then THEY ARE BEING PAID to enclose the DVD, at a time that print advertising revenues are reaching an all-time low.  Some filter.  It is only a small minority of editors with a integrity like John Robinson (no relation) of News & Record in Greensboro, N.C. that are saying "no".  But big papers owned by big corporations? No questions asked and thanks for doing business with us!  The ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS sent out more than 1/2 million DVDs!

Shouldn't the political party benefiting from these lies lose funding, or access to the public airwaves?  If you curse on the radio or TV or threaten the President, or break some other rule, the station's license is revoked.  They are PUBLIC AIRWAVES after all and the stations LICENSE THEM, they don't own them.

This can only be a preliminary report, as I've just watched three of the approximately nine billion CHARLIE CHAN movies produced by 2oth Century Fox, and none of the eighty trillion made by Monogram. Fox churned out their Chans until star Warner Oland (the Swedish Chinaman) had a nervous breakdown and then died and was replaced by Sidney Toler (the Scots-American Chinaman) who followed the series over to Poverty Row studio Monogram, continuing to work on it until he too died.

Those things'll kill you!

The films I watched were CHARLIE CHAN IN LONDON, CHARLIE CHAN IN SHANGHAI and CHARLIE CHAN AT THE OLYMPICS. They all had variations in their treatment of the series concept, as well as both similarities with and differences from the MR MOTO films produced concurrently at Fox.

Similarities, apart from the basic concept of an oriental detective played by a white European in yellowface -- both 'tecs spend a lot of time on ocean liners. I know it was a major way a lot of folks got around, and both investigators are globe-trotting kinds of guys, but this got kind of ridiculous. Chan was on ocean liners in two films, and delayed a trip in order to be in LONDON, whereas in one MOTO (I think it was THANK YOU) the little guy barely seemed to get ashore.

Also, the characters are essentially polite. This seems to be a stereotypical reading of the Eastern character, but it's not necessarily an inaccurate one. It only applies to certain situations, though -- one can't really describe a lot of Japanese military behaviour in WWII as "polite". But the characters, though stereotyped, are utterly positive. No messing about with tragic flaws here, the guys are super-smart, nice, always on the side of right, and unfailingly gracious. Admittedly, Moto does tend to kick the crap out of people, but only in self-defense and the pursuit of justice.

As I said before, Chan's stories tend towards the whodunnit, and Moto's are more like capers, with all kinds of crimes going on. This means they don't need to spend time setting up complex crimes to be solved, but can begin with Moto already running about in disguise and getting up to all kinds of hi-jinks. The Chan films, as befits their portly, middle-aged hero, are more sedentary and sequential. Also, Chan isn't such a loner -- he's a family man with twelve kids, various of whom appear to assist or interfere with Chan's investigations.

The key son is KeyeLuke, as Number One Son. Luke is a real Chinese-American, somehow spring from the yellowface loins of the Nordic Oland, which is kind of weird. It could be argued that this casting is somewhat racist in itself, since the genius Oland is white and the blundering Luke is oriental. But he only blunders because he's young, there's no suggestion that he's inherently dim. Teenagers were always a bit dopey in classic-era Hollywood films, since the films were made for everybody, not just teenagers like today, so they didn't have to flatter adolescents. Anyhow, Luke is certainly more dignified than the characters played by the likes of Pat Wayne in John Ford films. He's also allowed to have a normal teenage sex drive, spending most of SHANGHAI on the phone to his girlfriend. This struck me as fairly progressive for a minority character in a film of this era.

As an actor, Luke isn't at this point as relaxed and solid as he became in later performances, but he's great fun. It's a performance of wide-eyed enthusiasm comparable to Burt Ward's Robin in the Batman TV show. Play-acting and make-believe rather than realism.

I was quite touched by the little moments of sentiment the filmmakers' always take care to insert -- while Chan is gently scornful of most of No. 1 Son's efforts at detection, there's an underlying affection and unforced sweetness. I don't find this kind of thing in most contemporary popular culture products. The old NANCY DREW movies have it too.

The most striking of the three films I saw was CHARLIE CHAN AT THE OLYMPIC GAMES, mainly because it turned out to be the Berlin Olympics. You know, in Nazi Germany. So that explains why a Chinese detective can be seen mooching around the background of Leni Riefenstahl's OLYMPIA. I always wondered.

(Adding to the historic nature of the story, Charlie travels to Germany on the Hindenburg.)

Of course, the film eschews all politics. Charlie clashes gently with the local police detective, who's a bit dumb and arrogant, but has a good heart. In general, he's treated far better by the Nazis than he was in London in CHARLIE CHAN IN LONDON (Brit attitudes to Chan include superstitious fear among the lower orders, and supercilious disdain among the toffs). The movie is a great example of Hollywood's appeasement of the Reich. At one point the characters drive under a banner, which has clearly had a giant swastika optically removed -- but it's uncertain if this was done for the original release, or to protect modern sensibilities. If the latter, it's kind of a disgrace.

I enjoyed the three films and look forward to seeing more. They may just be escapist time-wasters, but there's plenty of entertainment and historic interest to be had from them, and Oland and Luke are both very charming. I'm assuming, as the series progresses, Mr. Chan will find himself up against Nazi agents at some point, and he can make up for his strangely amicable attitude to those guys earlier on.

What's going on here?

For the longest time I've been too fearful to ask. Afraid to engage. Because it's not just the hand. He has lots of problems. There's the stoop. He's virtually doubled up. And the shuffled limp. And the padded, bright yellow safety helmet that suggests a wrong softness within. It lets little wisps of old man white hair poke out here and there. Today in the slim breeze by the rail crossing those wisps seemed to reach for me and repel me at the same moment: Stay away. I'll make you confront your good fortune and your cosy life and things might not ever be so comfortable again.

I should have stepped back.

But I am not myself these days. Changes happened back there somewhere. If the little boy in The Sixth Sense could see dead people, then I seem to have acquired the gift of seeing live ones. Ones who had hitherto been marginalised by the fit, healthy Leni Riefenstahl-sponsored part of my brain that refused to look directly - really, truly look - at anybody with an obvious mental or physical condition. What if they tore my comfort zone from around me? What if... what if I caught something from them? The cells of my fit body would recoil from the very thought of such grotesquerie.

Until Jacob.

Leni Riefenstahl my backside. God has no more love for my beautiful chromosomal symmetry than he does for my 'damaged' son's awkward perfection. And something happened inside at a level that I don't ever expect to understand. I saw beyond, to what the old man was. Not some sideshow freak, but a man with more difficulties than me.

The barrier was still down, the DART pulling out from the platform towards town. The helmet looked uncomfortable. I leaned down and saw the person in his eyes. I've been so foolish for so long. I smiled a smile that reflected, I hope, the love I felt for humanity.

'How are you getting on today?'

'Oh fuck off and ask me arse.'

'For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions...'  ~ II Timothy 4:3

Rudy Giuliani gave a rousing speech to-night at the St. Paul Republicrat Convention.  (I kept expecting to see Leni Riefenstahl peering out from behind the teleprompters .)  Here is an excerpt in case you missed it:

I know, I know--I broke Godwin's Law.  (But I simply couldn't help myself.)  Oh, what I would have given to see Jefferson Davis or John C. Calhoun stride across the stage, elbow Mr Mayor off the dais and lay down how things are really going to be!

Remember: John McCain is going to save us from the Russians, Iranians, North Koreans, Chinese, Islamo-fascists!

Shadowplay guest blogger and part-time benshi film describer David Wingrove, who writes as David Melville, reports on Kenneth Anger's appearance -- or should one say MANIFESTATION? -- at Dundee Contemporary Arts. Read it up!

On a grey and rainy August afternoon (in Scotland, that is not a contradiction) two friends and I took a train to Dundee to meet Kenneth Anger. He is a…well, I could say ‘living legend’ but that hardly seems to do him justice.

Diese Woche hat "Kurier"-Redakteur Harald Schume die falsche Pillendose erwischt einen Geistesblitz zu Papier gebracht:

Top! do Leitor:

Fábio Rockenbach

Existe uma lembrança básica relacionada à década de 30: foi assistindo E O vento Levou com parcos 10 anos de idade que aprendi a sentir aquela emoção diferente relacionada à cinema, um misto de encantamento, magia e fascínio. É a mesma sensação que eu sinto todas as vezes que revejo o filme mais famoso de todos os tempos e ouço a trilha de Max Steiner se afastar de um carvalho ao pôr do sol ou Scarlett O’hara bradando que nunca mais passará fome de novo. É cinema fenômeno de público 40 anos antes de surgir o “blockbuster”. Que se f… quem diga que é superficial ou raso, é um dos poucos filmes que conheço que se tornaram sinônimo de cinema. Os outros? Tem pra todos, desde “Foi a bela que matou a fera” até “Não existe lugar como nossa casa”, passando por bandidos julgando um psicopata, a parceria de Eisenstein e Prokofiev, Leni Riefenstahl deixando a única coisa que presta ligada ao nazismo ou o filme que “matou” Jean Vigo, até “o Annie Hall da sua época, antes da invenção da ansiedade”, como Kael chamou “Aconteceu Naquela Noite”. Só dez é foda. Grandes anos.

01 …E O Vento Levou ( Victor Fleming, 1939 )
02. King Kong ( Merian C. Cooper, 1933 )
03. Tempos Modernos ( Charles Chaplin, 1936 )
04. Alexandre Nevsky ( Sergei Eisenstein, 1938 )
05. A Regra do Jogo ( Jean Renoir, 1939 )
06. M, O Vampiro de Dusseldorf ( Fritz Lang, 1931 )
07. O Atalante ( Jean Vigo, 1931 )
08. O Mágico de Oz ( Victor Fleming, 1939 )
09. Aconteceu Naquela Noite ( Frank Capra, 1934 )
10. O Triunfo da Vontade ( Leni Riefenstahl, 1936 )

Tops! da Equipe:

Daniel Dalpizzolo

Excetuando a década de 1990, quando Abel Ferrara emplacou suas duas principais obras-primas de desconserto fílmico e o maior policial de que se tem notícia, e a de 1950, quando em prática Ray filmou um projeto de dois lados, mantive meus tops sob a regra de não repetir diretores. Mais uma vez quebro ela, novamente por uma grande causa: mostrar que Hawks, homem que eu já defendi o suficiente por aqui a ponto de não haver necessidade de repetir o que penso sobre seu trabalho, mostrou que é o melhor tanto no drama quanto na comédia, os dois maiores pólos cinematográficos.

01. Paraíso Infernal (Howard Hawks, 1939)
02. O Testamento do Dr. Mabuse (Fritz Lang, 1933)
03. A Regra do Jogo (Jean Renoir, 1939)
04. O Expresso de Shangai (Josef von Sternberg, 1932)
05. Cupido é Moleque Teimoso (Leo McCarey, 1937)
06. Ninotchka (Ernst Lubitsch, 1939)
07. Zero de Conduta (Jean Vigo, 1933)
08. A Mulher Faz o Homem (Frank Capra, 1939)
09. Tempos Modernos (Charles Chaplin, 1936)
10. Levada da Breca (Howard Hawks, 1938)

Marcelo Dillenburg

Não sei exatamente o que dizer dessa década. Apesar de ter alguns dos meus filmes preferidos (os três primeiros da lista abaixo são grandes obras-primas), não é uma das minhas épocas preferidas. De uma forma ou de outra, fica o registro:

01. A Mulher Faz o Homem (Frank Capra, 1939)
02. Tempo Modernos (Charlie Chaplin, 1936)
03. Luzes da Cidade (Charlie Chaplin, 1931)
04. No Tempo das Diligências (John Ford, 1939)
05. O Triunfo da Vontade (Leni Riefenstahl, 1935)
06. O Anjo Azul (Josef von Sternberg, 1930)
07. King Kong (Merian C. Cooper & Ernest B. Schoedsack, 1933)
08. Scarface (Howard Hawks, 1932)
09. Os 39 Degraus (Alfred Hitchcock, 1935)
10. Branca de Neve e os Sete Anões (David Hand, 1937)

Pedro Kerr

Eu também acho que explorei pouco nessa década, pelo menos o suficiente para topeá-la, hehe. E praticamente todos esses dez são experiências muitíssimo interessantes, e os mais a frente mais acima da média:

01. Levada da Breca (Howard Hawks, 1938)
02. A Mulher Faz o Homem (Frank Capra, 1939)
03. Cupido é Moleque Teimoso (Leo McCarey, 1937)
04. A Regra do Jogo (Jean Renoir, 1939)
05. Tempos Modernos (Charles Chaplin, 1936)
06. No Tempo das Diligências (John Ford, 1939)
07. M - O Vampiro de Düsseldorf (Fritz Lang, 1931)
08. O Mágico de Oz (Victor Fleming, 1939)
09. Luzes da Cidade (Charles Chaplin, 1931)
10. E o Vento Levou (Victor Fleming, 1939)

Luis Henrique Boaventura

Infelizmente, por ter visto quase nada da década (mas apesar de amar demais os três primeiros) gosto mesmo apenas de metade desse top. O resto foram decepções que se seguiram minando minha vontade de ver qualquer coisa da década de 30 nos próximos 15 ou 20 anos...

01. A Mulher Faz o Homem (Frank Capra, 1939)
02. Aconteceu Naquela Noite (Frank Capra, 1934)
03. Do Mundo Nada se Leva (Frank Capra, 1938)
04. Levada da Breca (Howard Hawks, 1938)
05. No Tempo das Diligências (John Ford, 1939)
06. A Idade do Ouro (Luis Buñuel, 1930)
07. Horizonte Perdido (Frank Capra, 1937)
08. Vampyr (Carl Theodor Dreyer, 1932)
09. A Secretária Particular (Phil Whitman, 1933)
10. Limite (Mario Peixoto, 1931)

Thiago Macêdo Correia

Foi na década de 30 que John Ford fez a primeira parte fundamental de sua observação do homem do Oeste, em No Tempo das Diligências (seguido posteriormente por Rastros de Ódio e O Homem que Matou o Facínora), que James Cagney fez nascer o "rosto" dos gangsters, que Fred Astaire rodopiou mais bonito ao lado de Ginger Rogers, que Greta Garbo sorriu. Apesar dessas lembranças, o top da década não poderia deixar de ser de um dos maiores diretores de todos os tempos e suas críticas ferozes à sociedade, do maior filme já feito em Hollywood, do filme mais belo do artista mais talentoso que o cinema já teve, do filme mais mágico na vida de qualquer criança, das melhores comédias da história, de um grande filme de violência e do diretor mais sensível e otimista que já existiu.

01. A Regra do Jogo (Jean Renoir, 1939)
02. E o Vento Levou... (Victor Fleming, 1939)
03. Luzes da Cidade (Charles Chaplin, 1931)
04. O Mágico de Oz (Victor Fleming, 1939)
05. Cupido é Moleque Teimoso (Leo McCarey, 1937)
06. A Mulher Faz o Homem (Frank Capra, 1939)
07. A Grande Ilusão (Jean Renoir, 1937)
08. Levada da Breca (Howard Hawks, 1937)
09. Do Mundo Nada se Leva (Frank Capra (1938)
10. Scarface (Howard Hawks, 1932)

Adney Silva

Essa década ainda é um tanto quanto obscura para mim (só não é mais do que a década de 20), mas ainda assim consegui montar esse top em um tempo até relativamente curto. Tendo Chaplin como o maior de todos, com a sua fábula em forma de protesto contra a modernização trabalhista e suas consequências (isso há mais de 70 anos atrás), ainda temos como principal destaque a entrada fascinante de Walt Disney no mundo do cinema (e a réplica idealizada por Victor Fleming dois anos depois) e Greta Garbo eternizando uma frase. Talvez alguns saiam dessa lista conforme eu assista mais filmes da década, mas isso não faz dela menos relevante.

01. Tempos Modernos (Charles Chaplin, 1936)
02. O Mágico de Oz (Victor Fleming, 1939)
03. A Mulher Faz o Homem (Frank Capra, 1939)
04. Branca de Neve e os Sete Anões (David Hand, 1937)
05. No Tempo das Diligências (John Ford, 1939)
06. M - O Vampiro de Düsseldorf (Fritz Lang, 1931)
07. King Kong ( Merian C. Cooper, 1933 )
08. O Triunfo da Vontade (Leni Riefenstahl, 1935)
09. Grande Hotel (Edmund Goulding, 1932)
10. Agente Secreto (Alfred Hitchcock, 1936)

Vinícius Laurindo

O filme mais engraçado do mundo. A maior performance por trás da câmeras. Um recorte de cinema tão puro e singelo quanto bonito. Não bastasse essa trinca monumental, ainda temos Hawks, Lang, Capra e algumas dobradinhas.

01. Cupido é Moleque Teimoso (Leo McCarey, 1937)
02. A Regra do Jogo (Jean Renoir, 1939)
03. Luzes da Cidade (Charles Chaplin, 1931)
04. M - O Vampiro de Dusseldorf (Fritz Lang, 1931)
05. Paraíso Infernal (Howard Hawks, 1939)
06. Levada da Breca (Howard Hawks, 1938)
07. Do Mundo Nada Se Leva (Frank Capra, 1938)
08. Tempos Modernos (Charles Chaplin, 1936)
09. A Idade do Ouro (Luís Buñuel, 1930)
10. A Grande Ilusão (Jean Renoir, 1937)

Ami az anyagból kimaradt az az , hogy "az olimpiai lángot az ókori játékok helyszínén, nagyító segítségével gyújtották meg, s egy 3075 fős staféta jutatta el Berlinbe (a futók Magyarországon keresztül vitték a lángot). Berlinből adott először közvetítéseket a televízió, rengeteg technikai újítás (vízalatti-, sínen futó-, csónak- és léghajó-kamera) segítette a közvetítéseket. " [index.hu]

Azért álljon itt az "Olympia" prológusa, mely Vangelist is megihlette...

Semmi kétség, hogy Leni Riefenstahl zseni volt (és zsarnok, ha megtilthatta, hogy rajta kívül más is forgasoson)! A film e része is (az első percet átugorva) lenyűgöző: megtalálni az ideális szöget, ahonnan egy alig zavaró mozdulattal a csobbanásig kísérhető a test, mely onnan nézve igazi Ikaroszi magasságba tör (a bárányfelhők mintha megrendelésre...), hogy onnan hulljék alá. Pofonegyszerű:)

Olympia è un film del 1938 diretto da Leni Riefenstahl che documenta le Olimpiadi del 1936 a Berlino. Il film, primo documentario mai girato su un'Olimpiade, è diviso in due parti: Olympia - Festa di popoli (in tedesco Olympia: Fest der Völker), lunga 123 minuti, e Olympia - Festa di bellezza (Olympia Fest der Schönheit), lunga 94 minuti. Nel documentario furono utilizzate molte tecniche cinematografiche innovative per l'epoca che successivamente sarebbe diventate standard del cinema: dalle novità sugli angoli delle inquadrature ai primi piani estremi, ai binari nello stadio per fotografare la folla. La tecnica utilizzata è unanimemente ammirata dai critici, anche se sul film sono sorte ovvie controversie per quanto riguarda il contenuto politico.

...

Sure enough, there is an asteroid named Olympia and it's at 17 degrees of Scorpio. Olympia is squaring the North Node, now at 18 degrees of Aquarius. The aspect will soon be exact because the Nodes move backwards. In Uranian astrology, which I'm a fan of, squares and oppositions basically are read as conjunctions. So we've got the public (Nodes) focused on the Olympics (asteroid Olympia).

Then my brain started doing its pinball thing -- that little silver ball of thought bouncing off the sides of the machine, setting off bells and whistles and triggering lights. Are there any other things or people with the name Olympia? Perhaps they will also be in the news.

Interestingly, the asteroid Olympia was conjunct filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl's North Node when she was filming her epic picture Olympiad at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Here's Riefenstahl's chart with transits for Aug. 1, 1936, if you're interested. It took Riefenstahl nearly two years to finish Olympiad. The film made its world premiere on Apr. 20, 1938, Hitler's birthday.

More recently, we saw the powerful effect that a name asteroid can have during May, when we had the Indianapolis 500 race and the new Indiana Jones film making its premiere as the asteroid Indiana traveled with the North Node and Neptune. Something else happened that didn't get much press: The U.S. government held a big nuclear disaster test, which is also consistent with Node/Neptune, just outside Indianapolis in mid-May.

Here's my theory: Based on the asteroid Olympia's transit right now with the Nodes, I think we'll be hearing about Olympia Snowe, the respected Republican Senator from Maine, as a possible vice-presidential candidate.

Don't automatically assume that her name is being bandied about only by GOP Presidential candidate John McCain's camp. On the political blogs, Snowe has also been mentioned as a possible veep for Democrat Barack Obama. Now that would really be shaking things up, but Snowe is considered a "Republican in Name Only" because of her support for gay rights and abortion, among other issues that are anathema to the conservative right wing.

Let's look at her chart, courtesy of Astrodienst:

What's interesting about Ms. Snowe is that transiting Jupiter in Capricorn will make a powerful station on her natal Venus in early September, during the Republican convention. Sorry, Carly! Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina has been campaigning for McCain in what many people believe is an effort to be designated the Arizona Republican's vice-presidential candidate.

A name asteroid transiting the Nodes and a beautiful Venus/Jupiter conjunction can't guarantee Snowe the No. 2 spot on either ticket. But this I will guarantee: We'll be hearing a lot about Snowe, a Pisces born Feb. 21, 1947 in Augusta, Me., during the next month or so.

Here's what one blog, The New Republic's The Plank, is saying about her. All hail Olympia!

10/07/2008, São Paulo - Mostra (in) dependente de dança?

A “Mostra (in) dependente de dança?” é idealizada e realizada pela Cia. Borelli e o grupo Teatro de Paisagem.

Até 10 de agosto, seis companhias paulistanas ocuparão o Espaço Maquinaria, no bairro da Bela Vista, para mostrar seus últimos trabalhos de dança: Cia. Borelli de Dança, Solos e Reverberações, grupo IN VITRO, Cia. Nósláemcasa, Coletivo de Artistas Intermitentes Abismo de Sonhos e Cia. Fragmento são os grupos que formam a programação da “Mostra (in) dependente de Dança?”.

Grafada com um ponto de interrogação no final, a própria nomenclatura da mostra diz a que veio: questionar a independência dos grupos de dança de São Paulo. Segundo Sandro Borelli, um dos idealizadores da mostra, “fazer arte precisa ser um ato político e reflexivo, sempre, e o fato dos grupos participantes da mostra serem fomentados não anula a discussão sobre a ‘independência’ (ou não) do fazer artístico”.

Faz parte da programação da mostra a discussão de políticas públicas para cultura - especificamente teatro e dança - juntamente com representantes do poder público. Todas as esferas políticas que envolvem a cultura (secretarias municipal e estadual e Funarte, no âmbito federal) foram convidadas a debater o momento atual do país. Workshop, debate de processo de criação, demonstração de trabalho e uma exposição de fotos e vídeos exibida antes de cada espetáculo completam a programação que se encerra em 10 de agosto.

10/07/2008, São Paulo - MAC Ibirapuera exibe obras de ícones da fotografia

O MAC Ibirapuera exibe a exposição "Fotógrafos da Vida Moderna", reunindo 154 fotografias feitas na primeira metade do século 20 por ícones do gênero, como Brassaï, Cornell Capa, Geraldo de Barros, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Man Ray, Pierre Verger e Robert Doisneau.

A mostra é composta, em sua maioria, por fotos da coleção particular do ex-banqueiro Edemar Cid Ferreira, que estão com o MAC em regime de guarda provisória. São exibidas 124 fotografias da coleção de Ferreira, 19 do acervo do Museu de Arte Contemporânea e 11 do Instituto de Estudos Brasileiros da USP.

Em cartaz até 28 de setembro, a exposição tem curadoria de Helouise Costa e exibe também exemplares das revistas "Vu", "Life" e "Paris Match", nos quais foi publicado o trabalho dos fotógrafos cujas obras integram a mostra.

Entre as fotos presentes na exposição estão ainda imagens de autoria de Alexandr Rodtchenko, André Kertész, Margareth Bouke-White, Leni Riefenstahl, German Lorca, Alice Brill, Thomaz Farkas, e Hildegard Rosenthal.

I've always been fascinated by the "before its time" grandiosity of the now classic Nazi propaganda films.

By 1930's standards, they were indeed considered cutting edge and if you can possibly remove the subject matter from the equation, these films remain incredible works of art. The unique camera angles, plus the storied use of editing, slow motion and lighting made for impeccable cinema.

And they were the cinematic creations that stemmed from the fertile and creative mind of a maverick director.

And a woman.

It's hardly a secret that Leni Riefenstahl was Adolf Hitler's favorite filmmaker and documentarian. She was the controversial cinematic director of classic documentaries, Olympia and Triumph of the Will. She also shot footage of those epic Nazi pep rallies in Berlin and Munich. At the time, she did things that few directors did. She saw things that few could see. She not only had a voice....she had incredible "sight". She was indeed, a visionary.

She died in the fall of 2003 at the ripe old age of 101 and in the years following her death, I began very informal research into the woman that Riefenstahl was.

But that's not the basis for this post. Nor or her films. This subject matter contained in this post focuses on what I found in my pursuit of learning about Frau Leni.

You see, I learned that with a little creative editing and the right music, Hitler and his jack booted thuggery can actually be kind of funny.

And apparently, so incredibly misunderstood.

•

Here's Dolphie singing, "Movin' On Up", the theme from TV's, "The Jeffersons". Great editing and by the way, is it just me, or does anyone else hear what I hear in this TV theme song. Listen carefully to the background singer during the bridge (at roughly 0:52). I swear to Vishnu that sounds just like Sherman "George Jefferson" Hemsley singing harmony.

Regardless of whether ol Sherm is singing or not, this piece is truly inspired. BRILLIANT!!!

•

No dance party would be complete without refreshments. Here, our host eats unt tasty slice of der post-rave watermelon!!

Yum! Es goot, ja!!

•

See? See what I mean?

History got it wrong! He wasn't really a tyrant or Satan incarnate, for that matter. And there are fuhrer and fuhrer pieces of evidence indicating that Adolph Hitler WAS in fact, a completely delusional narcissistic bully in thrall to a dominant father and with a neurosis about women, who as a feminine boy, was obsequious towards superiors while displaying rabidly homosexual tendencies and his sense of grievance over this fact and other perceived failures prompted his own humiliation which led to his cruelty and policy of mass slaughter.

On the contrary...

In reality, Hitler was merely "acting out".

His ONLY problem, as evidenced in these videos, was that he was a frustrated singer and choreographer who had a lusty penchant for sweet, aqueous fruit.

That's all.

.

Here's a few items of note:

-At a young age Jesse developed a large fibrous tumor on his chest that almost claimed his life. Living in rural Alabama as the son of a poor sharecropper he could not afford adequate health care, and so his mother removed it with a kitchen knife.

-In search of a better life the Owenses moved to Cleveland, Ohio where the young James Cleveland Owens got the nickname "Jesse." His southern accent was laid thick on his words to the teacher at roll call when he tried to say people called him "J.C."

-In Junior High, Jesse was discovered by the track coach who saw him run extraordinarily fast on the playground. After an impromptu timing of a 100 yard dash the coach stared down at his stopwatch in disbelief; Jesse had run it in eleven seconds flat. He was 15 years old.

-Jesse was more or less unrivaled in College setting world records and winning a multitude of competitions. But he met his match in an upstart African American named Eulace Peacock who defeated Owens in four races leading up to the Olympic trials. Tragically, Peacock pulled a hamstring and was not able to go to Berlin, and Owens regained the number one US spot.

-The US almost boycotted the Berlin games due to the tenacity and foresight of a Catholic Judge who lead a strong protest movement that very nearly succeeded. If it was not for the work of a bigoted, racist, Nazi sympathizing athletic organizer who was in charge of the amateur athletes Owens may not have ever had the chance to compete. Nevertheless, the black athletes argued they should compete in racist Germany, because they have been competing in racist America. Both the Catholic Judge and the black athletes were right, but totally disagreed on what to do.

-The Berlin games were an orgy of Nazi pageantry. Hitler had a special stadium built, though he flew into a rage when he found out that it was to follow a modern design. Another architect assured Hitler he would revise the plans to fit the Führer's classical-pagan sensibilities, but the end result was a mish-mash of designs that looked unsightly even to the architecturally ignorant Jesse Owens.

-Unsurprisingly, Hitler made himself the center of attention at the games as he reveled in the hysterical applause he received from the German crowd. He attended and viewed the games from a private box where he invited the medal winners up for a personal congratulation, yet conveniently left early whenever the black athletes won. The whole narcissistic and discriminatory affair irked the Olympic organizer who scolded Hitler for his behavior. Surprisingly, Hitler backed off his self-aggrandizement and personal honor of the athletes. He later confided to a henchman who wanted his photo taken with Owens that "The Americans ought to be ashamed of themselves for letting their medals be won by Negroes." He went one to say he would never shake hands with them.

-Predictably, Owens dominated the competition winning four gold medals in the 100 and 200 meter dash, the broad jump (or what we call he the long jump) and the 4 x 100 relay. Against the legend that the German crowd received him coldly, the 100,000 strong cheered him exuberantly and sought his autograph. Each time he won Hitler appeared to wave at him, but no one could verify if it was for personal congratulation.

-Hitler had hired Leni Riefenstahl, a filmmaker he had used to produce propaganda films of the Nuremburg gatherings, to film the games. Much to the consternation of Joseph Goebbels, who wanted to sleep with her, Riefenstahl's film highlighted the black American as the star of the games. Throughout the filming process Goebbels berated her often reducing her to tears, but in the end her movie would be a cinematic masterpiece that is still studied by film schools today for its aesthetic qualities. You can watching film here.

-Owens' stiffest competition came from an Aryan broad jumper named Luz Long whose chiseled physique made for a menacing presence. The young American became so nervous that he faulted and failed to qualify in his first two jumps. Nerve-racked and afraid he might blow it, Owens found a comforting white arm rest on his shoulder saying, "What has taken your goat Jazzee Owens?" Long encouraged him to relax and reassured him he could make the jump easily, which he ultimately did. The sportsmanship Long displayed was further accentuated when Owens beat him in the finals for the gold, and Long, in true Olympic spirit celebrated the black athlete by grasping his hand and raising his arm into the air in front of Hitler's box.

-The friendship between Owen and Long lasted after the Berlin games were over, but would end in 1943 when Long was killed in a battle for Sicily. Long was a reluctant soldier who believed the Nazi regime was corrupt and destine to fail. In a letter to Owens he asked for Jesse visit his son if he died in the war to tell him about his father. Jesse kept his promise in 1951 and said he saw the face of Luz in his son.

-Owens was particularly classy and an example of a sports role model, but he became increasingly political as he faced the discrimination of Jim Crow back home, the lack of social advancement in the wake of his career, and the charges of being an "Uncle Tom" from black radicals in the 1960s. Much of the lore about the German crowd not receiving Owens came from his own accounts to please his hearers.

The story is an amazing one that I highly recommend. It doesn't always make me proud to be an American, considering our shameful racist history, but it does demonstrate the American spirit of a true champion worthy of admiration.

But I made another comment that wasn't posted and I can pretend neither to be pleased nor understand. This is the moderator's prereogative, of course, but I don't know what about what follows is objectionable or unpublishable, particularly since a comment about the glories of Soviet Communism did pass the offense test. I flattered myself that perhaps Ebert was gonna make the exact same point in his piece (though I still would have published it; it's not a blindingly original point that could form the basis of a cribbing charge). But he didn't.

And here is what I wrote.
-----------------------------------------------
Mr. Urquhart:

The answer is that TRIUMPH OF THE WILL neither is nor isn't a documentary, but rather, it created its own category in a kind of Hegelian synthesis, and it's a synthesis that news coverage and politicians since have not been able to do without: The Photo-Op.

That is, "reality" that exists in order for itself to be photographed. When the American president goes for a visit to the flooded parts of Iowa, a significant part of the reason (after all, he can sign aid bills or disaster declarations sitting in DC) is so he can be seen doing it for public consumption, just like all the Nazis marched through Nuremburg in history's grandest and greatest photo-op. TRIUMPH was something new for politics. And what I said of the Iowa floods is true of any president of any party; I'm not making the childish "Bushitler" arguments of some above.

While TRIUMPH is in no way a "pure" documentary in the way that cinema-verite purists insist, it is just as clearly not fiction -- the Nuremberg Rally really did happen as Leni Riefenstahl showed it; and significant events that did not appear in the film happened anyway.

Every time you turn on CNN or Fox News or the BBC, etc., you are watching something that Leni Riefenstahl and TRIUMPH OF THE WILL made possible. Rinse and repeat with ESPN and OLYMPIA (though the details are a bit different), and you have the greatest and most-influential documentarian (and female director) of all time. No doubt about it.

...anscheinend war halt doch nicht alles schlecht, früher.
Es lebe der gesunde Körper!

300 seems to have three divergent target audiences. 1) Fanboys who are into Frank Miller's work and/or Lord of the Rings like sagas (and times, 300 seemed also like a parody of LOTR). 2) Gay men who would no doubt enjoy looking at all that rippling male flesh. The rampant homosexuality and pedarasty in Spartan culture, incidentally, was completely ignored in the film. And 3) Neocon fundamentalist crazies who desperately want to stay in Iraq for a 100 years and who want to invade Persia, er, Iran. Why not? According this film, they're are all perverted, malformed subhumans.

Like Leni Riefenstahl's toxic masterpiece, 300 is frequently beautiful to look at. Yet it is one of the most morally repugnant works of art to be belched out the of plastic asshole of American culture in a long long time.

Die meisten Feinde aber machte sich der 1914 in New York geborene Schulberg mit einem Roman. What makes Sammy run?, 1941 erschienen, sorgte für einen wahren Sturm der Empörung im Establishment von Hollywood. John Wayne wollte Schulberg noch 20 Jahre später deshalb verprügeln. Produzentenlegende Samuel Goldwyn brüllte ihn an: „Du bist ein Verräter!“ und forderte, Schulberg aus Hollywood „abzuschieben“.

Schulbergs Verbrechen: Er hatte in seinem ersten Roman die korrupten Mechanismen der Filmindustrie beschrieben. Als Drehbuchautor - er arbeitete gemeinsam mit Dorothy Parker am Skript zu A Star is born (1937) mit - und Sohn eines Hollywoodproduzenten kannte er sich da aus. Sein Antiheld, der Redaktionsbote Sammy Glick, der seine mangelnde Bildung durch Impertinenz wettmacht, steigt ohne eigenes Können, allein durch Dreistigkeit, zu einem der bestbezahlten Drehbuchschreiber Hollywoods auf. Er gibt ein Manuskript eines Kollegen als sein eigenes aus, verkauft es an den Produzenten Myron Selznick (im wirklichen Leben der Bruder des ungleich berühmteren David O. Selznick) und landet einen Riesenerfolg an der Kinokasse. Mit geklauten Ideen und ohne jeden Anflug von Skrupel („Mit einem Gewissen leben ist wie mit angezogener Handbremse Auto fahren.“) bestreitet er seinen unaufhaltsamen Aufstieg. Auf der Strecke bleiben alle, die er dabei benutzt – Geliebte, Kollegen, Zuarbeiter. Freunde hat er keine.

Prompt sah sich Schulberg mit Antisemitismusvorwürfen konfrontiert. Mancher wollte in Sammy Glick das Klischeebild des hinterhältigen Juden erblicken. Mehrfach wird Sammys „frettchenhafte“ Art betont, jeder in seiner Umgebung muß sich vorsehen, nicht Opfer seiner nächsten Intrige zu werden. In einem Nachwort zur Neuausgabe von 1990 schreibt der Autor: „Natürlich ist Sammy jüdisch, aber alle seine Opfer sind es auch. Ich bilde das gesamte Spektrum von Charaktereigenschaften ab, nur zufällig innerhalb einer bestimmten ethnischen Gemeinschaft.“

Sammy Glick wurde in der amerikanischen Alltagskultur zum Prototyp des aalglatten Aufsteigers und Charakterschweins. Doch in den 80er- und 90er-Jahren änderte sich das. Mit einem gewissen Entsetzen stellte Schulberg fest, daß sein Sammy, den er eigentlich als abschreckendes Zerrbild konzipiert hatte, von jungen Yuppies als Vorbild betrachtet wurde, dem es nachzueifern galt.

Mehr als 60 Jahre hat es gedauert, eine deutsche Übersetzung dieses amerikanisch-jüdischen Klassikers herauszubringen. Die ist jetzt erschienen, heißt Was treibt Sammy an? und stammt von Harry Rowohlt. Bewährter Übersetzer angelsächsischer Hochkomik, der er ist, hat Rowohlt auch hier eine stilistisch ansprechende und genußvoll zu lesende Arbeit abgeliefert. Doch an manchen Stellen holpert die Übersetzung. Das fängt beim Titel an, der zwar im selben Rhythmus schwingt wie das Original, das Leitmotiv des Rennens – Sammy ist immer in Bewegung, sowohl in übertragener als auch in wörtlicher Hinsicht – aber unterschlägt. Wenn der Hays Code, das Hollywood-Richtlinienwerk für (oder besser gegen) die Darstellung sexueller oder gewalttätiger Inhalte, als „Freiwillige Selbstkontrolle“ wiedergegeben wird, klingt das doch arg bundesrepublikanisch. Schwächen hat auch die Übertragung amerikanischer Slangausdrücke. Wenn Sammy, ganz Kind der Gosse, „I’m gonna“ sagt, statt „I’m going to“, ist das deutlich und markant. Wie blaß ist dagegen Rowohlts „Ich wer“, statt „Ich werde“. Auch die doppelte Verneinung erleidet auf ihrem Weg ins Deutsche Schaden. „I don’t owe you nothing“ klingt authentisch. Aber wer, bitte, sagt „Ich schulde Ihnen nichts nicht“?

Von solchen Schönheitsfehlern abgesehen ist es natürlich erfreulich, daß Sammy Glick jetzt auch einem deutschen Publikum bekannt wird. Zum Erscheinen der deutschen Fassung seines Buchs kam Budd Schulberg nach Deutschland, um aus seinem Roman zu lesen. Auf der Berlinale sah er sich den Dokumentarfilm über sein Leben an, den sein Sohn produziert hatte. Vor mehr als 60 Jahren war er schon einmal hier gewesen, um nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg Filmmaterial über die Naziverbrechen zu sammeln, das in den Nürnberger Prozessen verwendet wurde, über die Schulberg wiederum einen Film drehte. In seiner Funktion als Marineoffizier verhaftete Schulberg damals sogar Leni Riefenstahl, mußte das „Nazi-Pin-up-Girl“, wie er sie nannte, freilich bald wieder laufen lassen.

What makes Sammy run? war Schulbergs größter Bucherfolg, an den er als Romanautor nie wieder anknüpfen konnte. Dafür hatte er als Drehbuchautor noch eine ansehnliche Karriere vor sich. The Harder They Fall (Schmutziger Lorbeer) wurde mit Humphrey Bogart in der Hauptrolle verfilmt. Legendär ist Schulbergs Zusammenarbeit mit dem Regisseur Elia Kazan bei den Filmen On the Waterfront (Die Faust im Nacken) mit Marlon Brando, für den er einen Oscar erhielt, und The Face in the Crowd (Ein Gesicht in der Menge). Heute lebt der 94jährige mit seiner Frau Betsy auf Long Island. Einmal noch kehrte er zu seinen Wurzeln zurück: Beim Streik der Drehbuchautoren im vergangenen Jahr stellte Schulberg sich als Streikposten zur Verfügung. Tradition verpflichtet.

Em linhas tortas, assim despertou o Nazismo. A idéia de nacionalidade alemã é levada adiante à flor da pele por esta pioneira do cinema alemão que inspirou outros diretores devido às suas inovações estéticas.

A diretora retrata na película, a união de forças civis e militares do povo alemão, numa esplêndida visão de progresso. Desta forma, destaca Adolf Hitler como líder absoluto, tendo uma figura de comandante todo poderoso e carismático, capaz de reavivar a economia alemã, afetada pela derrota na Primeira Grande Guerra e pela crise de 1929, bem como acender uma chama de patriotismo no coração da população.

Lení cria desta forma, uma grande fonte de inspiração para o orgulho nacional, através de seus discursos e de seus oficiais do Exército. O filme transmite a impressão de supremacia, invencibilidade do Exército, instituição capaz de levá-los à Glória, transformando a Alemanha em uma grande nação.

Lení Riefenstahl mostra sequências de discursos de personalidades do Exécito alemão que proferem palavras instigantes para incentivar o povo a se engajar na luta por uma nação melhor e para que juntos, transformassem a Alemanha no melhor país do mundo. Em forma de estímulos, aparecem dizeres com o objetivo de aumentar o moral do país, ou seja, a auto estima de seu povo, lembrando a todos que possuíam o sangue puro e forte.

Um dos momentos mais intensos do filme se dá quando Hitler afirma aos jovens: "vocês são sangue de meu sangue" apregoando que juntos formavam uma só vontade.

Isto certamente inseriu estímulos nos ouvintes, pois Hitler era muito admirado por eles. Adolf mais do que um líder dos homens, transforma-se em mais um deles, numa sinergia absurdamente bem construída pelas lentes da cineasta.

Em falas que promoviam o orgulho de soldados, apesar de vários discursos imperativos, soavam também em forma de apelo, como por exemplo, em mensagens encaminhadas à imprensa alemã e do mundo para que falassem sempre bem a cerca do país e para que continuamente fossem destacados em forma de notícia.

A famosa frase: "Uma imagem vale mais do que mil palavras" foi dita pelo Goebbels, Ministro da Propaganda Nazista, que idealizou e batalhou por este projeto fílmico.

"O Triunfo da Vontade" demonstra o ápice de poder a ser alcançado pelo homem, a concretização de um sonho e o poder da criação.

O Triunfo da Vontade é um aterrorizante registro histórico, maravilhosamente bem produzido, se avaliarmos o aparato técnico da década de trinta. Algumas imagens aéreas foram realizadas de forma muito estável mostrando a chegada de Hitler ao local dos discursos como se fosse um Deus.

Este filme pode ser batante útil para repensarmos as sociedades e para refletirmos sobre os horrores da humanidade.

Não podemos fechar os olhos para o que é feio e assustador, mas sim deitarmos um olhar crítico e a partir disto, atuarmos livremente para que cenas assim, tão surreais aos olhares de um jovem da atualidade não mais se repitam. Assitindo ao Triunfo da Vontade, certas cenas grotescas de nosso cotidiano tornam-se mais perceptíveis e portanto, menos banais.

The first part of each class begins with a fun quiz designed to create an awareness of how each student is or has been influenced by the media. The results have never failed to shock each individual class member.

Propaganda is not new.

Leni Riefenstahl's film Triumph des Willens (Triumph of the Will) shot at the 1934 Nuremberg congress of the Nazi Party is probably the single most famous work of propaganda to date.

And

In 1942, the American government formed the 18th Air Force Base Unit of the U.S. Army Air Corp, more commonly known as the F.M.P.U. or the First Motion Picture Unit, to create training films, morale films, and propaganda films. The most famous work produced under the F.M.P. U. banner was William Wyler's Memphis Belle: Story of a Flying Fortress. Also in 1942, the government commissioned another famous work, Frank Capra's Why We Fight series.

Governments and corporations, religious and educational institutions, and anything else connected with a desire/need for increase in monetary gain or public acceptance/participation uses some form of progaganda marketing to accomplish their goal.

I wasn't surprised by the recent New York Times article, Behind TV Analysts, Pentagon's Hidden Hand by David Barstow, which is 11 pages of words describing how the Pentagon hired retired military personnel to be used in a campaign to create favorable news about the Bush Administration's wartime actions.

Anyone who has ever watched Jehane Noujaim's award winning documentary, Control Room shouldn't be surprised either.

Disgusted, yes. Surprised, no.

Surprise is when you are taken unaware.

Who could possibly be unaware that the government (doesn't matter which party) has an aggressive propaganda marketing wing?

What I find more interesting than the government's agenda to manipulate the public's way of thinking, is how we, the people respond so casually, and even more interesting, so "non-consequentially" to it.

Have we become so desensitized to the media that we either take it all in and believe it OR reject it and simply go about our business?

The number of American citizens far out numbers the decision makers in the media.

Why do we allow such a small group of individuals such an amazing amount of control influence?

One of the greatest ways the American public could create change is to demand integrity and responsibility from the American news media.

Heck, if just those counted in the Nielsen ratings alone refused to watch any American news program that would be a start!

But, it's more than just turning off your television or turning the channel...

It's also about standing up, speaking out, and demanding change from the news media that will create a weakness in the government's or any other large enterprise's agenda to spin their actions.

As long as we continue to allow a small group of decision makers to act without integrity and responsibility when it comes to the news, then we should not be surprised by our government's ability to manipulate information.