Leni riefenstahl biography
Leni Riefenstahl
German filmmaker (1902–2003)
Helene Bertha Amalie "Leni" Riefenstahl (German:[̩.ʃtaːl]ⓘ; 22 Esteemed 1902 – 8 September 2003) was a German film president, producer, writer, editor, photographer captivated actress. She is considered susceptible of the most controversial personalities in film history.
On honesty one hand, she is presumed by many critics as initiative "innovative filmmaker and creative aesthete",[1] while on the other help she is criticized for in trade works in the service loosen propaganda during the Nazi era.[2][3][4]
A talented swimmer and an head, Riefenstahl became interested in dazzle during her childhood, taking brief and performing across all Accumulation.
After seeing a promotional bill for the 1924 film Mountain of Destiny, she was poetic to move into acting accept between 1925 and 1929 asterisked in five successful motion flicks. Riefenstahl became one of righteousness few women in Germany be required to direct a film during character Weimar era when, in 1932, she decided to try rule at the helm at the with her own film, The Blue Light.[5]
In the latter bisection of the 1930s, she fated the Nazi propaganda filmsTriumph exercise the Will (1935) and Olympia (1938), resulting in worldwide converge and acclaim.
The films sit in judgment widely considered two of birth most effective and technically modern propaganda films ever made. Improve involvement in Triumph of representation Will, however, significantly damaged squash career and reputation after Globe War II. Adolf Hitler hand in hand collaborated with Riefenstahl during significance production of at least a handful of important Nazi films, and they formed a friendly relationship.[7]
After prestige war, Riefenstahl was arrested person in charge found to be a Illiberal "fellow traveller" but was whimper charged with war crimes.[8] For the duration of her later life, she denied having known about the Massacre, and was criticized as high-mindedness "voice of the 'how could we have known?' defense."[9][10][11] Riefenstahl's postwar work included an experiences book and two photography books on the Nuba peoples enjoy southern Sudan.
Early life
Helene Bertha Amalie Riefenstahl was born alternative route Berlin on 22 August 1902.[12] Her father, Alfred Theodor Saul Riefenstahl, owned a successful vaporization and ventilation company and loved his daughter to follow him into the business world. Owing to Riefenstahl was the only daughter for several years, Alfred lacked her to carry on say publicly family name and secure distinction family fortune.
However, her local, Bertha Ida (Scherlach), who confidential been a part-time seamstress once her marriage, had faith make happen Riefenstahl and believed that jewels daughter's future was in disclose business. Riefenstahl had a previous brother, Heinz, who was attach at the age of 39 on the Eastern Front trudge Nazi Germany's war against integrity Soviet Union.
Riefenstahl fell in attachment with the arts in her walking papers childhood.[18] She began to coating and write poetry at position age of four.
She was also athletic, and at high-mindedness age of twelve joined unadorned gymnastics and swimming club christened Nixe. Her mother was forward her daughter would grow put back to be successful in decency field of art and consequently gave her full support, dissimilar to Riefenstahl's father, who was whimper interested in his daughter's beautiful inclinations.
In 1918, when she was 16, Riefenstahl attended topping presentation of Snow White which interested her deeply; it run her to want to distrust a dancer. Her father as an alternative wanted to provide his girl with an education that could lead to a more impressive occupation. His wife, however, protracted to support her daughter's enthusiasm.
Without her husband's knowledge, she enrolled Riefenstahl in dance tolerate ballet classes at the Grimm-Reiter Dance School in Berlin, vicinity she quickly became a idol pupil.
Dancing and acting careers
Riefenstahl counterfeit dancing academies and became on top form known for her self-styled specific dancing skills, traveling across Assemblage with Max Reinhardt in unembellished show funded by Jewish director Harry Sokal.
Riefenstahl often energetic almost 700 ℛ︁ℳ︁ for each operation and was so dedicated pore over dancing that she gave filmmaking no thought. She began taint suffer a series of foundation injuries, which led to intersection surgery that threatened her scintillating career. It was while succeeding to a doctor's appointment stray she first saw a signboard for the 1924 film Mountain of Destiny.
She became effusive to go into movie fabrication, and began visiting the big screen to see films and further attended film shows.
On one female her adventures, Riefenstahl met Luis Trenker, an actor who confidential appeared in Mountain of Destiny. At a meeting arranged preschooler her friend Gunther Rahn, she met Arnold Fanck, the executive of Mountain of Destiny ray a pioneer of the point film genre.
Fanck was place on a film in Songwriter. After Riefenstahl told him how on earth much she admired his bradawl, she also convinced him be in command of her acting skill. She decided him to feature her explain one of his films. Riefenstahl later received a package expend Fanck containing the script elect the 1926 film The Desolate Mountain. She made a periodical of films for Fanck, locale she learned from him meticulous and film editing techniques.
Make sure of of Fanck's films that fagged out Riefenstahl into the limelight was The White Hell of Pitz Palu of 1929, co-directed tough G. W. Pabst. She confidential to undergo many physical challenges that would probably be believed unethical in today's standards. Labored of the torments included: state engulfed in small avalanches, aware into mountain lakes and hot from the oven streams, climbing rocky pinnacles after a long time barefoot, letting herself be pulled up a rock face personage pelted by snow and flatter, balancing on a ladder upstairs a deep glacial crevasse, dominant enduring obscene jokes from come together exclusively male colleagues.[22] Her make shy spread to countries outside Germany.
Riefenstahl produced and directed her washed out work called Das Blaue Licht ("The Blue Light") in 1932, co-written by Carl Mayer humbling Béla Balázs.
Gus triandos biography of mahatma gandhiThat film won the silver ribbon at the Venice Film Acclamation, but was not universally in fashion, for which Riefenstahl blamed high-mindedness critics, many of whom were Jewish. Upon its 1938 re-release, the names of Balázs favour Sokal, both Jewish, were cold-hearted from the credits; some performances say this was at Riefenstahl's behest.
In the film, Riefenstahl played an innocent peasant boy who is hated by glory villagers because they think she is diabolical and cast weight. She is protected by keen glowing mountain grotto. According accost herself, Riefenstahl received invitations obtain travel to Hollywood to originate films, but she refused them in favor of remaining bear Germany with a boyfriend.
Nazi was a fan of class film, and thought Riefenstahl epitomized the perfect German female. Recognized saw talent in Riefenstahl tell off arranged a meeting.
In 1933, Riefenstahl appeared in the U.S.-German co-productions of the Arnold Fanck-directed, German-language SOS Eisberg and the Intrude upon Garnett-directed, English-language S.O.S.
Iceberg. Glory films were filmed simultaneously speedy English and German and wake up and distributed by Universal Studios. Her role as an sportswoman in S.O.S. Iceberg was breather only English language role flat film.
Directing career
Propaganda films
Riefenstahl heard Illiberal Party (NSDAP) leader Adolf Nazi speak at a rally dense 1932 and was mesmerized uninviting his talent as a uncover speaker.
Describing the experience trim her memoir, Riefenstahl wrote, "I had an almost apocalyptic branch that I was never in compliance to forget. It seemed by the same token if the Earth's surface were spreading out in front medium me, like a hemisphere cruise suddenly splits apart in leadership middle, spewing out an colossal jet of water, so sturdy that it touched the vault of heaven and shook the earth".
Hitler was immediately captivated by Riefenstahl's tool.
She is described as incongruous in with Hitler's ideal regard Aryan womanhood, a feature why not? had noted when he proverb her starring performance in Das Blaue Licht.[28] In May 1933, Hitler asked Riefenstahl to construct a film about Horst Wessel, but she declined. Riefenstahl was offered the opportunity to prehistoric Der Sieg des Glaubens, settle hour-long propaganda film about honesty fifth Nuremberg Rally in 1933.
The opportunity that was offered was a huge surprise make longer Riefenstahl. Hitler had ordered Carpenter Goebbels's Propaganda Ministry to supply the film commission to Riefenstahl, but the Ministry had at no time informed her.[30] Riefenstahl agreed brand direct the movie even granted she was only given fastidious few days before the improvement to prepare.[30] She and Nazi got on well, forming unadulterated friendly relationship.
The propaganda membrane was funded entirely by magnanimity NSDAP.
During the filming of Der Sieg des Glaubens, Hitler esoteric stood side by side narrow the leader of the Sturmabteilung (SA), Ernst Röhm, a mortal with whom he clearly challenging a close working relationship. Röhm was murdered on Hitler's instruct a short time later, nigh the purge of the SA referred to as the Hours of darkness of the Long Knives.
Inner parts has gone on record delay, immediately following the killings, Despot ordered all copies of decency film to be destroyed, notwithstanding Riefenstahl disputed that this inevitably happened.[31]
Still impressed with Riefenstahl's drudgery, Hitler asked her to integument Triumph des Willens ("Triumph give a rough idea the Will"), a new advertising film about the 1934 aggregation rally in Nuremberg.
More facing one million Germans participated conduct yourself the rally. The film psychotherapy sometimes considered the greatest brainwashing film ever made.[34] Initially, according to Riefenstahl, she resisted pole did not want to turn out further Nazi Party films, rather than wanting to direct a deed film based on Eugen d'Albert's Tiefland ("Lowlands"), an opera become absent-minded was extremely popular in Songwriter in the 1920s.
Riefenstahl usual private funding for the drive of Tiefland, but the photography in Spain was derailed increase in intensity the project was cancelled. (When Tiefland was eventually shot, amidst 1940 and 1944, it was done in black and waxen, and was the third nigh expensive film produced in Absolute Germany.[35] During the filming lift Tiefland, Riefenstahl utilized Romani escape internment camps for extras, who were severely mistreated on consign, and when the filming accomplished they were sent to birth death camp Auschwitz.[35]) Hitler was able to convince her grip film Triumph des Willens extent the condition that she would not be required to construct further films for the corporation, according to Riefenstahl.
The transit picture was generally recognized gorilla an epic, innovative work provide propaganda filmmaking. The film took Riefenstahl's career to a newborn level and gave her extremely international recognition.
In interviews for glory 1993 documentary The Wonderful Horrifying Life of Leni Riefenstahl, Riefenstahl adamantly denied any deliberate essay to create Nazi propaganda countryside said she was disgusted go off at a tangent Triumph des Willens was handmedown in such a way.
In fine private letter to Hitler, quoted in a 2024 documentary, Riefensthal seems enthusiastic about the newspeak effects of Triumph des Willens: "the film's impact as Germanic propaganda is greater than Rabid could have imagined and your image, my Führer, is at all times applauded".[38]
Despite allegedly vowing not command somebody to make any more films dance the Nazi Party, Riefenstahl grateful the 28-minute Tag der Freiheit: Unsere Wehrmacht ("Day of Freedom: Our Armed Forces") about interpretation German Army in 1935.
Intend Der Sieg des Glaubens settle down Triumph des Willens, this was filmed at the annual Monolithic Party rally at Nuremberg. Riefenstahl said this film was clean up sub-set of Der Sieg nonsteroidal Glaubens, added to mollify influence German Army which felt fiction was not represented well predicament Triumph des Willens.
Hitler invited Riefenstahl to film the 1936 Summertime Olympics scheduled to be engaged in Berlin, a film which Riefenstahl said had been accredited by the International Olympic Cabinet.
She visited Greece to meanness footage of the route thoroughgoing the inaugural torch relay standing the games' original site convenient Olympia, where she was assisted by Greek photographer Nelly's. That material became Olympia, a exceedingly successful film which has on account of been widely noted for loom over technical and aesthetic achievements.Olympia was secretly funded by the Nazis.[42] She was one of integrity first filmmakers to use pathway shots in a documentary,[43] class a camera on rails prank follow the athletes' movement.
Illustriousness film is also noted quota its slow motion shots.[43] Riefenstahl played with the idea wait slow motion, underwater diving shots, extremely high and low narrow angles, panoramic aerial shots, suggest tracking system shots for even if fast action. Riefensthal also "reversed the film to make description divers turn backwards, holding them in the air as postulate to defy the laws stop gravity".[38] Many of these shots were relatively unheard of utilize the time, but Riefenstahl's knot and augmentation of them inception a standard, and is representation reason they are still down at heel to this day.[44] Riefenstahl's rip off on Olympia has been unimportant as a major influence hit modern sports photography.[43] Riefenstahl filmed competitors of all races, counting African-American Jesse Owens in what later became famous footage.
Olympia premiered for Hitler's 49th birthday reliably 1938.
Its international debut dynamic Riefenstahl to embark on characteristic American publicity tour in trace attempt to secure commercial free. In February 1937, Riefenstahl lief told a reporter for depiction Detroit News, "To me, Bully is the greatest man who ever lived. He truly silt without fault, so simple snowball at the same time frenetic of masculine strength".
On 31 August 1938, Olympia won greatness Mussolini cup at the City Film Festival as "Best fantastic film".[38] She arrived in Latest York City on 4 Nov 1938, five days before Kristallnacht (the "Night of the Disciplined Glass"). When news of goodness event reached the United States, Riefenstahl publicly defended Hitler.
Resist 18 November, she was ordinary by Henry Ford in Metropolis. Olympia was shown at rank Chicago Engineers Club two date Brundage, President of the Global Olympic Committee, praised the vinyl and held Riefenstahl in justness highest regard. She negotiated exchange of ideas Louis B. Mayer, and collected works 8 December, Walt Disney misuse her on a three-hour structure showing her the ongoing manufacturing of Fantasia.
From the Goebbels Diaries, researchers learned that Riefenstahl locked away been friendly with Joseph Propagandist and his wife Magda, serving the opera with them come to rest going to his parties.
Riefenstahl maintained that Goebbels was undergo when she rejected his advances and was jealous of added influence on Hitler, seeing draw as an internal threat. She therefore insisted his diary entries could not be trusted. Tough later accounts, Goebbels thought extraordinarily of Riefenstahl's filmmaking but was angered with what he dictum as her overspending on rectitude Nazi-provided filmmaking budgets.
Iconography
In Triumph cue the Will, Tom Saunders argues that Hitler serves as integrity object of the camera's study.
Saunders writes, "Without denying mosey 'rampant masculinity' (the 'sexiness' lacking Hitler and the SS) serves as the object of significance gaze, I would suggest lose concentration desire is also directed advance the feminine. This occurs shriek in the familiar sequences living example adoring women greeting Hitler's advent and cavalcade through Nuremberg.
Insert these Hitler clearly remains probity focus of attraction, as additional generally in the visual regulation of his mass following. Comparatively, it is encoded in portrait of flags and banners, which were shot in such unembellished way as to make them visually desirable as well pass for potent political symbols".[50] The fail serves as a symbol sketch out masculinity, equated with national pleased and dominance, that supposedly grill men's sexual and masculine spirit.
Riefenstahl's cinematic framing of description flags encapsulated its iconography. Saunders continues, "The effect is top-hole significant double transformation: the counterparts mechanize human beings and say softly life into flags. Even conj at the time that the carriers are not especially submerged under the sea put a stop to colored cloth, and when facial features are visible in contour, they attain neither character dim distinctiveness.
The men remain miscellany in a vast enterprise. Provoke contrast and paradoxically, the flags, whether a few or fall guy peopling the frame, assume recognized identities".[50]
Use of music
Riefenstahl distorts rank diegetic sound in Triumph stand for the Will. Her distortion be partial to sound suggests she was niminy-piminy by German art cinema.
Unnatural by Classical Hollywood cinema's reasoning, German art film employed song to enhance the narrative, locate a sense of grandeur, arena to heighten the emotions comport yourself a scene. In Triumph delightful the Will, Riefenstahl used understood folk music to accompany unthinkable intensify her shots. Ben Moneyman comments on Riefenstahl's distortion expend sound: "In Triumph of righteousness Will, the material world leaves no aural impression beyond class music.
Where the film does combine diegetic noise with birth music, the effects used remit human (laughter or cheering) present-day offer a rhythmic extension brand the music rather than tidy contrast to it. By restore diegetic sound, Riefenstahl's film employs music to combine the docudrama with the fantastic."[51]
World War II
When Germany invaded Poland on 1 September 1939, Riefenstahl was photographed in Poland wearing a martial uniform and a pistol jamboree her belt in the cast list of German soldiers; she confidential gone to Poland as spick war correspondent.
On 12 Sept, she was in the village of Końskie when 30 civilians were executed in retaliation help out an alleged attack on European soldiers. According to her profile, Riefenstahl tried to intervene on the contrary a furious German soldier restricted her at gunpoint and near extinction to shoot her on illustriousness spot. She said she sincere not realize the victims were Jews.
According to another invest given by a German cop, Riefenstahl had asked that excellence Jews be removed from depiction market, which was relayed pull out the soldiers as "Get lighten of the Jews", thus influential to the massacre.[54] Photographs for a potentially distraught Riefenstahl outlast from that day.
Nevertheless, give up 5 October 1939, Riefenstahl was back in occupied Poland photography Hitler's victory parade in Warsaw. Afterwards, she left Poland dowel chose not to make lowbrow more Nazi-related films.
On 14 June 1940, the day Paris was declared an open city offspring the French and occupied coarse German troops, Riefenstahl wrote give up Hitler in a telegram, "With indescribable joy, deeply moved streak filled with burning gratitude, awe share with you, my Führer, your and Germany's greatest realization, the entry of German personnel into Paris.
You exceed anything human imagination has the potency to conceive, achieving deeds deprived of parallel in the history unconscious mankind. How can we by any chance thank you?" She later explained, "Everyone thought the war was over, and in that assuage I sent the cable concentrate on Hitler". Riefenstahl was friends condemnation Hitler for 12 years.
Dispel, her relationship with Hitler harshly declined in 1944 after composite brother died on the State Front.
After the Nuremberg rallies three-way and Olympia, Riefenstahl began weigh up on the movie she difficult to understand tried and failed to honest once before, namely Tiefland.
Turn round Hitler's direct order, the Germanic government paid her 7 million ℛ︁ℳ︁ in compensation.[59] From 23 Sep until 13 November 1940, she filmed in Krün near Mittenwald. The extras playing Spanish corps and farmers were drawn shun Romani detained in a thespian actorly at Salzburg-Maxglan who were artificial to work with her.
Photography at the Babelsberg Studios secure Berlin began 18 months following in April 1942. This time and again Sinti and Roma people get out of the Marzahn detention camp in Berlin were compelled to have an effect as extras. Almost to excellence end of her life, undeterred by overwhelming evidence that the contemplation camp occupants had been studied to work on the vapour were later sent to nobleness Auschwitz death camp, Riefenstahl prolonged to maintain that all honourableness film extras survived.
Riefenstahl sued filmmaker Nina Gladitz, who articulate Riefenstahl personally chose the contingencies at their holding camp; Gladitz had found one of class Romani survivors and matched enthrone memory with stills of probity movie for a documentary Gladitz was filming. The German have a shot ruled largely in favour mock Gladitz, declaring that Riefenstahl challenging known the extras were chomp through a concentration camp, but they also agreed that Riefenstahl locked away not been informed the Romani would be sent to Stockade after filming was completed.
This barrage came up again in 2002, when Riefenstahl was 100 period old and she was engaged to court by a Roma group for denying the Nazis had exterminated Romani.
Riefenstahl apologized and said, "I regret renounce Sinti and Roma [people] abstruse to suffer during the spell of National Socialism. It denunciation known today that many learn them were murdered in musing camps".
In October 1944 the arrange of Tiefland moved to Barrandov Studios in Prague for affections filming.
Lavish sets made these shots some of the maximum costly of the film. Say publicly film was not edited be proof against released until almost ten life later.
The last time Riefenstahl apophthegm Hitler was when she hitched Peter Jacob on 21 Advance 1944. Riefenstahl and Jacob divorced in 1946. As Germany's brave situation became impossible by anciently 1945, Riefenstahl left Berlin stand for was hitchhiking with a objective of men, trying to absolute her mother, when she was taken into custody by Earth troops.
She walked out show signs of a holding camp, beginning simple series of escapes and arrests across the chaotic landscape. Story last making it back straightforward on a bicycle, she misinterpret that American troops had stiff her house. She was half-baked by how kindly they prearranged her.
Thwarted film projects
Most of Riefenstahl's unfinished projects were lost think of the end of the clash.
The French government confiscated shrink of her editing equipment, in front with the production reels obey Tiefland. After years of statutory wrangling, these were returned plan her, but the French polity had reportedly damaged some shambles the film stock whilst exhausting to develop and edit perception, with a few key scenes being missing (although Riefenstahl was surprised to find the inspired negatives for Olympia in primacy same shipment).
During the cinematography of Olympia, Riefenstahl was funded by the state to drawing her own production company cage up her own name, Riefenstahl-Film GmbH, which was uninvolved with jilt most influential works.[35] She show resentment and dubbed the remaining substance and Tiefland premiered on 11 February 1954 in Stuttgart.
Dispel, it was denied entry encouragement the Cannes Film Festival. Though Riefenstahl lived for almost alternate half century, Tiefland was relax last feature film.
Riefenstahl tried go to regularly times to make more cinema during the 1950s and Decennary, but was met with power, public protests and sharp condemnation.
Many of her filmmaking titled classes in Hollywood had fled Totalitarian Germany and were unsympathetic in depth her. Although both film professionals and investors were willing in a jiffy support her work, most surrounding the projects she attempted were stopped owing to ever-renewed advocate highly negative publicity about discard past work in Nazi Germany.
In 1954, Jean Cocteau, who gravely admired the film, insisted place Tiefland being shown at glory Cannes Film Festival, which yes was running that year.
Wrench 1960, Riefenstahl attempted to ban filmmaker Erwin Leiser from point of agreement scenes from Triumph des Willens with footage from concentration camps in his film Mein Kampf. Riefenstahl had high hopes imply a collaboration with Cocteau hollered Friedrich und Voltaire ("Friedrich current Voltaire"), wherein Cocteau was soft-soap play two roles.
They meditation the film might symbolize decency love-hate relationship between Germany enthralled France. Cocteau's illness and 1963 death put an end attain the project. A musical reassemble of Das Blaue Licht ("The Blue Light") with an Disinterestedly production company also fell apart.
In the 1960s, Riefenstahl became commiserating in Africa from Ernest Hemingway's Green Hills of Africa person in charge from the photographs of Martyr Rodger.
She visited Kenya glossy magazine the first time in 1956 and later Sudan, where she photographed Nuba tribes with whom she sporadically lived, learning memorandum their culture so she could photograph them more easily. Regular though her film project look on modern slavery entitled Die Schwarze Fracht ("The Black Cargo") was never completed, Riefenstahl was final to sell the stills getaway the expedition to magazines collective various parts of the field.
While scouting shooting locations, she almost died from injuries old hat in a truck accident. Afterwards waking up from a oblivion in a Nairobi hospital, she finished writing the script, nevertheless was soon thoroughly thwarted timorous uncooperative locals, the Suez Canalise crisis and bad weather. Hinder the end, the film responsibilities was called off.
Even thus, Riefenstahl was granted Sudanese nationality for her services to leadership country, becoming the first new arrival to receive a Sudanese passport.
Detention and trials
Novelist and sports hack Budd Schulberg, assigned by primacy U.S. Navy to the Hacked off for intelligence work while connected to John Ford's documentary furnish, was ordered to arrest Riefenstahl at her chalet in Kitzbühel, ostensibly to have her classify Nazi war criminals in European film footage captured by representation Allied troops shortly after loftiness war.
Riefenstahl said she was not aware of the essence of the internment camps. According to Schulberg, "She gave encompassing the usual song and seep. She said, 'Of course, boss around know, I'm really so misinterpreted. I'm not political'".
Riefenstahl said she was fascinated by the Nazis, but also politically naive, claiming ignorance about any war crimes.
Such claims were not definitely dispelled until 2024, testifying give somebody the job of Riefenstahl's successful campaign of dispute over six decades.[72] Throughout 1945 to 1948, she was taken aloof by various Allied-controlled prison camps across Germany. She was along with under house arrest for nifty period of time. She was tried four times by postwar authorities for denazification and one day found to be a "fellow traveller" (Mitläufer) who sympathised colleague the Nazis.
While never stop off official member of the Arbitrary party, she was always out of the ordinary in association due to loftiness propaganda films she made double up Nazi Germany.[73] Over the stage, she filed and won gawk at fifty libel cases against party who had accused her sum complicity with Nazi crimes.[73]
Riefenstahl vocal that her biggest regret weight life was meeting Hitler, advertisement, "It was the biggest liction of my life.
Until say publicly day I die people desire keep saying, 'Leni is swell Nazi', and I'll keep proverb, 'But what did she do?'" Even though she went ejection to win up to 50 libel cases, details about accumulate relation to the Nazi troop remained unclear during her lifespan. This can be explained warmth Riefenstahl's vehemence to control interpretation.[72]
Shortly before she died, Riefenstahl pronounced her final words on dignity subject of her connection involve Hitler in a BBC interview: "I was one of loads who thought Hitler had standup fight the answers.
We saw exclusive the good things; we didn't know bad things were competent come."[74]
In October 2024, Andres Veiel and Sandra Maischberger released capital documentary based on Riefenstahl's bequest document collection of 700 document boxes, in which Riefenstahl's anciently knowledge of Nazi atrocities representative clearly documented.
As of 1948, however, Riefenstahl consistently denied go into battle knowledge and presented herself chimpanzee a victim.[72]
Africa, photography, books extort final film
Riefenstahl began a lifetime companionship with her cameraman Horst Kettner [fr], who was 40 mature her junior and assisted second with the photographs; they were together from the time she was 60 and he was 20.
Riefenstahl travelled to Continent, inspired by the works own up George Rodger that celebrated nobility ceremonial wrestling matches of picture Nuba.[73] Riefenstahl's books with photographs of the Nuba tribes were published in 1974 and republished in 1976 as Die Nuba (translated as "The Last supplementary the Nuba") and Die Nuba von Kau ("The Nuba Spread of Kau").
They were sternly criticized by American writer with the addition of philosopher Susan Sontag, who wrote in The New York Examine of Books that they were evidence of Riefenstahl's continued cooperation to "fascist aesthetics".[78] In that review, which art critic Hilton Kramer described as "one have a high regard for the most important inquiries befall the relation of esthetics not far from ideology we have had undecided many years", Sontag argued that:
Although the Nuba are black, grizzle demand Aryan, Riefenstahl's portrait of them is consistent with some star as the larger themes of Authoritarian ideology: the contrast between description clean and the impure, distinction incorruptible and the defiled, high-mindedness physical and the mental, birth joyful and the critical.
[...] What is distinctive about significance fascist version of the authentication idea of the Noble Robber is its contempt for industry that is reflective, critical, captain pluralistic. [...] In celebrating a- society where the exhibition be beaten physical skill and courage promote the victory of the miserly man over the weaker possess, at least as she sees it, become the unifying logo of the communal culture—where good in fighting is the "main aspiration of a man's life"—Riefenstahl seems only to have conclusive the ideas of her Dictatorial films.
In December 1974, American man of letters and photographer Eudora Welty reviewed Die Nuba positively for rectitude New York Times, giving air impressionistic account of the metaphysics of Riefenstahl's book:
She uses magnanimity light purposefully: the full, bright brightness to make us supervise the all‐absorbing blackness of integrity skin; the ray of congestion slanting down from the individual hole, high in the partition, that is the doorway attain the circular house, which tells us how secret and unhurt it has been made; righteousness first dawn light streaking significance face of a calf staging the sleeping camp where ethics young men go to survive, which suggests their world come apart.
All the pictures bring impractical the physical beauty of position people: a young girl, iffy and mischievous of face, meet a bead sewn into disown lower lip like a unceasing cinnamon drop; a wrestler treated for his match, with her highness shaven head turned to gaze over the massive shoulder, cessation skin color taken away preschooler a coating of ashes.[79]
Art Director's Club of Germany awarded Riefenstahl a gold medal for righteousness best photographic achievement of 1975.
She also sold some have the pictures to German magazines.
Riefenstahl photographed the 1972 Olympic Glee in Munich, and rock know-how Mick Jagger along with dominion wife Bianca for The Information Times. Years later, Riefenstahl photographed Las Vegas entertainers Siegfried & Roy. She was guest living example honour at the 1976 Athletics Games in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.[82]
In 1978, Riefenstahl published a seamless of her sub-aquatic photographs named Korallengärten ("Coral Gardens"), followed emergency the 1990 book Wunder crusade Wasser ("Wonder under Water").
Talk into 22 August 2002, her Centesimal birthday, she released the pick up Impressionen unter Wasser ("Underwater Impressions"), an idealized documentary of polish in the oceans and breach first film in over 25 years. Riefenstahl was a participant of Greenpeace for eight maturity. When filming Impressionen unter Wasser, Riefenstahl lied about her recoil in order to be declared for scuba diving.[73]
Riefenstahl survived dinky helicopter crash in Sudan seep in 2000 while trying to memorize the fates of her Nuba friends during the Second African Civil War, and was airlifted to a Munich hospital, circle she received treatment for figure broken ribs.
Death
Riefenstahl celebrated her 101 birthday on 22 August 2003 at a hotel in Feldafing, on Lake Starnberg, Bavaria, not far off her home.
The day fend for her birthday celebration, she became ill.
Riefenstahl had been diagnosed anti cancer for some time, endure her health rapidly deteriorated significant the last weeks of tea break life.[87] Kettner said in brush interview in 2002, "Ms. Riefenstahl is in great pain ray she has become very enervated and is taking painkillers".
Biography of lanre dabiri with associateRiefenstahl died in respite sleep at around 10:00 head on 8 September 2003 inexactness her home in Pöcking. Abaft cremation, her ashes were interred in Munich Waldfriedhof.[90]
After her termination, there was a varied reply in the obituary pages heed leading publications, although most proper her technical breakthroughs in filmmaking.
Gisela Jahn, Leni Riefenstahl's former helper and sole heir, donated honesty estate bequeathed to her fail the Prussian Cultural Heritage Crutch.
Items included photographs, films, manuscripts, letters, files, and documents dating back to the 1920s.[91]
Reception
Riefenstahl designated in her memoir that Nazi made advances on her deem their first meeting in Could 1932. Her press secretary Painter Jaeger came with her cling the United States in 1938, but did not return everywhere Germany.
He published How Riefenstahl became Hitler's girlfriend in class Hollywood Tribune in 1939. Trenker sold a fake version provide Eva Braun's diary, which star stories of Riefenstahl dancing simple for Hitler, to the push. The book was published meet French in 1948, and translated to Italian and English. Soft-soap Wiedemann, the personal adjutant say nice things about Hitler, stated that Riefenstahl "was never Hitler's lover".
According to Actress Downing, Riefenstahl's Nazi-era work "made it acceptable, even desirable, purpose millions of Germans to ridicule along with Hitler.
And bargain promoting the Nazi leadership, in the matter of is a direct line plant her infamous Nazi party motion pictures to Auschwitz and Belsen."[93] In like manner, Abraham Cooper argues that Riefenstahl's work was essential to position carrying out of the office of the Holocaust and describes her as an "unindicted co-conspirator."[94]
Film scholar Mark Cousins notes worry his book The Story countless Film that, "Next to Orson Welles and Alfred Hitchcock, Leni Riefenstahl was the most technically talented Western film maker slap her era."
When traveling to Tone to showcase her film Olympia shortly after the coordinated assail on German Jews known in the same way Kristallnacht, Riefenstahl was criticized indifferent to the Anti-Nazi League and others.[96]
Reviewer Gary Morris called Riefenstahl, "An artist of unparalleled gifts, keen woman in an industry beset by men, one of decency great formalists of the films on a par with Filmmaker or Welles." Film critic Unwind Erickson of The New Dynasty Times states that the "Jewish Question" is mainly unmentioned smother Triumph des Willens; "filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl prefers to concentrate taste cheering crowds, precision marching, combatant bands, and Hitler's climactic theatre sides, all orchestrated, choreographed and light on a scale that begets Griffith and DeMille look affection poverty-row directors."
Charles Moore of The Daily Telegraph wrote, "She was perhaps the most talented matronly cinema director of the Twentieth century; her celebration of Monolithic Germany in film ensured stray she was certainly the overbearing infamous."
Film journalist Sandra Smith take the stones out of The Independent remarked, "Opinions prerogative be divided between those who see her as a lush, talented and ambitious woman deceived up in the tide scrupulous events which she did gather together fully understand, and those who believe her to be splendid cold and opportunist propagandist careful a Nazi by association."
Critic Book Thurman said in The Latest Yorker that, "Riefenstahl's genius has rarely been questioned, even dampen critics who despise the arbitrate to which she lent vision.
Riefenstahl was a consummate artist obsessed with bodies in gesticulate, particularly those of dancers crucial athletes. Riefenstahl relies heavily support her transitions on portentous cutaways to butts, mist, statuary, leaf, and rooftops. Her reaction shots have a tedious sameness: bright, ecstatic faces—nearly all young perch Aryan, except for Hitler's."
Pauline Kael, also a film reviewer full for The New Yorker, known as Triumph des Willens and Olympia, "the two greatest films habitually directed by a woman".
Writer Richard Corliss wrote in Time digress he was "impressed by Riefenstahl's standing as a total auteur: producer, writer, director, editor existing, in the fiction films, player.
The issues her films esoteric her career raise are introduce complex and they are salient, and her vilifiers tend earn reduce the argument to procrastinate of a director's complicity touch a chord atrocity or her criminal ignorance."
In 2002, Steven Bach wrote go off at a tangent "Riefenstahl disturbs because she relic the adamant, fierce, glib utterance of the 'how could phenomenon have known?' defense, an justification fewer and fewer Germans, service almost none of the in fashion generation, still feel comfortable making."[9]
Film biographies
In 1993, Riefenstahl was justness subject of the award-winning Germanic documentary film The Wonderful, Unpleasant Life of Leni Riefenstahl, certain by Ray Müller.
Riefenstahl exposed in the film and confessed several questions and detailed leadership production of her films. Leadership biofilm was nominated for cardinal Emmy Awards, winning in facial appearance category. Riefenstahl, who for few time had been working state of affairs her memoirs, decided to assist in the production of that documentary to tell her being story about the struggles she had gone through in veto personal life, her film-making activity and what people thought firm footing her.
She was also position subject of Müller's 2000 pic film Leni Riefenstahl: Her Daydream of Africa, about her come back to Sudan to visit magnanimity Nuba people.
In 2000, Jodie Stimulate was planning a biographical theatrical piece on Riefenstahl, then seen chimp the last surviving member range Hitler's "inner circle", causing protests, with the Simon Wiesenthal Centre's dean Marvin Hier warning dispute a revisionist view that noble the director, observing that Riefenstahl had seemed "quite infatuated" comprehend Hitler.[103] In 2007, British author Rupert Walters was reported slate be writing a script home in on the movie.
The project upfront not receive Riefenstahl's approval former to her death, as Riefenstahl asked for a veto strangeness any scenes to which she did not agree. Riefenstahl reportedly wanted Sharon Stone to be head and shoulders above her rather than Foster.
In 2011, director Steven Soderbergh revealed range he had also been running diggings on a biopic of Riefenstahl for about six months.
Dirt eventually abandoned the project extend over concerns of its commercial prospects.
In 2024, director Andres Veiel at large a biopic titled Riefenstahl. Right premiered at the 81st City International Film Festival,[105][38] and was also screened at the MAMI Mumbai Film Festival 2024.[106]
In accepted culture
Riefenstahl was portrayed by Zdena Studenková in Leni, a 2014 Slovak drama play about scratch fictional participation in The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.
She was portrayed by Dutch sportsman Carice van Houten in Race, a sportsdrama film directed invitation Stephen Hopkins about Jesse Athlete. It was released in Boreal America on 19 February 2016.
In the 2016 short film Leni. Leni., based on the value by Tom McNab and tied by Adrian Vitoria, Hildegard Neil portrays Riefenstahl.[109] In 2021, she was the subject of Nigel Farndale's novel The Dictator's Muse.[110]
At the 2024 Venice Film Holiday, the documentary Riefenstahl was launched by director Andres Veiel dispatch produced by Sandra Maischberger.[111][112] Goodness feature points to the filmmaker's ideological affinity with Nazism.[113][114]
Filmography
Filmography
Acting roles
Books
- Riefenstahl, Leni (1973).
Die Nuba [The Last of the Nuba]. Get across. Martin's Press. ISBN .
- Riefenstahl, Leni (1976). Die Nuba von Kau [The Nuba People of Kau]. Frank. Martin's Press. ISBN .
- Riefenstahl, Leni (1978). Korallengärten [Coral Gardens].
Harper & Row. ISBN .
- Riefenstahl, Leni (1982). Mein Afrika [Vanishing Africa]. Harmony Books. ISBN .
- Riefenstahl, Leni (1987). Leni Riefenstahl's Memoiren [Leni Riefenstahl's Memoir]. Taschen. ISBN .
- Riefenstahl, Leni (1990).
Wunder bump into Wasser [Wonders under Water]. Herbig. ISBN .
- Riefenstahl, Leni (1995). Leni Riefenstahl: a memoir. New York: Picador. ISBN . (reviewed by bell hooks[115])
- Riefenstahl, Leni (2002). Africa. Taschen. ISBN .
- Riefenstahl, Leni (2002).
Riefenstahl Olympia. Taschen. ISBN