Saturday, December 27, 2008

DVD Alert: 'The Wonderful Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl'


Here's a requested Xmas gift. Film buffs will know about this controversial German actress, director, dancer, and photographer who died at 101 in 2003. Others unfamiliar with her can read her entry on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riefenstahl,_Leni Because she directed two of the greatest documentaries of all time while living in Nazi Germany, she was praised for one (the 1936 Olympics filmed in Berlin and considered by many the best sports film ever) and later vilified for The Triumph of the Will about the 1934 Nuremberg Nazi rally.
Because of her Nazi connections that she always downplayed, Leni's career was ruined after the war although she was officially classified as a sympathizer and not a collaborator. She defended her innocence due to political naivety but many didn't believe her protests as seen here in this fascinating documentary filmed in 1994 as she approached her 90th birthday. Feisty as ever, she defies her critics and gives her director a workout through a verbal warzone. She never understood or did not accept that propaganda was not separate from art as in her defense of making Triumph of the Will. Her filmmaking skills empowered that documentary to become a warning to the world about the rising might of Nazi power and fostering the cult worship of its beloved godlike leader.
This absorbing three hour documentary is full of generous restored clips from her films. I own several books about her, including her controversial autobiography. A good introduction is the recent Leni: The Life and Work of Leni Riefenstahl by Stephen Bach whose Final Cut about the making of the disastrous Heaven's Gate is a classic study of a film that went wrong.
Leni did have a wonderful and horrible life. I first saw this documentary years ago on cable and rewatching it was a treat. How this woman kept her beliefs to the very end is remarkable in itself. I think she used the Nazis to advance her career as much as they used her skills to advance their cause.
There's subtitles but don't let that scare you away.

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