This is a very competently assembled documentary about one of the greatest artist film makers: Leni Riefenstahl.
That this documentary is necessary at all is down to her association with the vilest and most evil regimes in history: Hitler & the Nazis.
The documentary maker, Müller, does not hold back in showing us - and by extension Riefenstahl herself - what she did, what her involvement was in Germany in the 1930s. Similarly, Müller tries to hold Riefenstahl to account. It's interesting to watch the 90-year-old pushing back and holding to the line that she's always held: that she was never a party member, never a true believer. Watch this documentary and see what you think.
There's no question that, seen through today's eyes, Triumph of the Will (TotW), and Olympia can be seen as propaganda. However, the former film won top awards before the war for its innovative techniques and imagery. The art is there. The films weren't seen as propaganda in 1938.... The problem, for Riefenstahl, is that these films are seen as propaganda NOW.
The other problem is that these two films are just too good as innovative art-in-cinema. In this documentary, it comes through that Riefenstahl wishes she hadn't made TofW. All of her (probably well-rehearsed) protestations about not knowing or realising what Hitler was are acceptable. As a matter of fact, Riefenstahl made no further "propaganda" films after Olympia (1936-38). If she had been a committed follower, then she would have made dozens of films for the Nazis 1936-45. Others did (e.g Veit Harlan). But she didn't. This suggests to me that there is a large element of truth in what she says here.
She was appalled by what she saw in Poland in 1939. This also moved her strongly away from wanting to make films for the regime.
Riefenstahl fell out badly with the Nazi authorities. She states that even as early as 1934, Goebbels hated her - and he was in control of the Nazi propaganda industry. She clearly was a strong minded artist who refused to be seduced or controlled.
The pity of it all is that Riefenstahl was pilloried and rejected after the war and made no further major contributions to cinema. In this documentary, we sense her regret - but we also sense that she is prepared to stand and justify her pre-war work. She cannot, even many years after the events, be separated from her art, even though many have identified her as a Nazi sympathiser because of it.
This documentary is about an hour too long - but then perhaps it has to be? Riefenstahl is a strong and compelling person.
A good documentary about a very remarkable film maker.
That this documentary is necessary at all is down to her association with the vilest and most evil regimes in history: Hitler & the Nazis.
The documentary maker, Müller, does not hold back in showing us - and by extension Riefenstahl herself - what she did, what her involvement was in Germany in the 1930s. Similarly, Müller tries to hold Riefenstahl to account. It's interesting to watch the 90-year-old pushing back and holding to the line that she's always held: that she was never a party member, never a true believer. Watch this documentary and see what you think.
There's no question that, seen through today's eyes, Triumph of the Will (TotW), and Olympia can be seen as propaganda. However, the former film won top awards before the war for its innovative techniques and imagery. The art is there. The films weren't seen as propaganda in 1938.... The problem, for Riefenstahl, is that these films are seen as propaganda NOW.
The other problem is that these two films are just too good as innovative art-in-cinema. In this documentary, it comes through that Riefenstahl wishes she hadn't made TofW. All of her (probably well-rehearsed) protestations about not knowing or realising what Hitler was are acceptable. As a matter of fact, Riefenstahl made no further "propaganda" films after Olympia (1936-38). If she had been a committed follower, then she would have made dozens of films for the Nazis 1936-45. Others did (e.g Veit Harlan). But she didn't. This suggests to me that there is a large element of truth in what she says here.
She was appalled by what she saw in Poland in 1939. This also moved her strongly away from wanting to make films for the regime.
Riefenstahl fell out badly with the Nazi authorities. She states that even as early as 1934, Goebbels hated her - and he was in control of the Nazi propaganda industry. She clearly was a strong minded artist who refused to be seduced or controlled.
The pity of it all is that Riefenstahl was pilloried and rejected after the war and made no further major contributions to cinema. In this documentary, we sense her regret - but we also sense that she is prepared to stand and justify her pre-war work. She cannot, even many years after the events, be separated from her art, even though many have identified her as a Nazi sympathiser because of it.
This documentary is about an hour too long - but then perhaps it has to be? Riefenstahl is a strong and compelling person.
A good documentary about a very remarkable film maker.