Encyclopedia, Difference between revisions of "Leni Riefenstahl" - New World
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{{Infobox actor | {{Infobox actor | ||
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| birthdate = [[August 22]], [[1902]] | | birthdate = [[August 22]], [[1902]] | ||
| location = [[Berlin]], [[Germany]] | | location = [[Berlin]], [[Germany]] | ||
| − | | deathdate = [[September 8]], [[2003]] | + | | deathdate = [[September 8]], [[2003]], |
| − | | deathplace = [[ | + | (age 101) |
| + | | deathplace = [[Pöcking]], [[Germany]] | ||
| othername = | | othername = | ||
| yearsactive = | | yearsactive = | ||
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}} | }} | ||
| − | '''Helene Bertha Amalie "Leni" Riefenstahl''' (August 22 1902 – September 8 2003) was a [[Germany|German]] [[film director]], dancer and [[actress]], and widely noted for her [[aesthetics]] and advances in film technique. Her most famous | + | '''Helene Bertha Amalie "Leni" Riefenstahl''' (August 22 1902 – September 8 2003) was a [[Germany|German]] [[film director]], dancer and [[actress]], and widely noted for her [[aesthetics]] and advances in film technique. Her most famous film was [[Triumph of the Will|Triumph des Willens]], a [[documentary film|documentary]] of the 1934 [[Nuremberg]] congress of the [[Nazi Party]], which was used by the [[Third Reich]] as a powerful [[propaganda film]]. Because of Riefenstahl's social prominence in the Third Reich, including a personal acquaintance with [[Adolf Hitler]] and [[Joseph Goebbels]], Leni Riefenstahl's film career ended after Germany's defeat in [[World War II]], when she was arrested but not found guilty of war crimes.<ref>{{cite video |
| + | | people = Leni Riefenstahl | ||
| + | | year = 1993 | ||
| + | | date = | ||
| + | | title = Die Macht der Bilder: Leni Riefenstahl | ||
| + | | url = | ||
| + | | format = | ||
| + | | medium = motion picture | ||
| + | | publisher = Ray Müller | ||
| + | | location = Germany, Africa | ||
| + | | accessdate = | ||
| + | | accessmonth= | ||
| + | | accessyear = | ||
| + | | time = | ||
| + | }}</ref> | ||
Riefenstahl is renowned in [[History of cinema|film history]] for developing new aesthetics in film, especially in relation to nude bodies. While the propaganda value of her early films repels many, their aesthetics are cited by many filmmakers as groundbreaking. | Riefenstahl is renowned in [[History of cinema|film history]] for developing new aesthetics in film, especially in relation to nude bodies. While the propaganda value of her early films repels many, their aesthetics are cited by many filmmakers as groundbreaking. | ||
| − | Rejected by the film industry after [[World War II]], she later | + | Rejected by the film industry after [[World War II]], she later published her still [[photography]] of [[Nuba]] tribes in [[Africa]] and continued to make films of marine life. |
==Biography== | ==Biography== | ||
===Dancer and actress=== | ===Dancer and actress=== | ||
| − | + | Riefenstahl was born in the working class suburb of Wedding in [[Berlin]]. Riefenstahl began her career as a self-styled and well-known interpretive dancer. (In a 2002 interview, she said dancing made her truly happy.) After injuring her knee while performing in [[Prague]], she attended a viewing of a nature film about mountains, and became fascinated with the possibilities of the medium. She went to the [[Alps]] to find the film's director, [[Arnold Fanck]], intending to become the leading lady in his his next project. Riefenstahl found the star of Fanck's films, who wrote to the director and informed him of Riefenstahl's intentions. Riefenstahl went on to star in a number of Fanck's [[Mountain film|bergfilme]], presenting herself as an athletic and adventurous young woman with suggestive appeal. Riefenstahl's career as an actor in [[silent film]]s was prolific, and she became highly regarded by directors and publicly popular with German film-goers. Her last acting role before moving to directing was in the 1933 film ''SOS Eisberg'' (U.S. title ''SOS Iceberg''). | |
| − | === | + | Riefenstahl brought a perfectionism to filmmaking that enabled her to produce exceptionally polished movies, culminating in her final works in National Socialist Germany. Her main interest at first was in fictional films. When presented with her first opportunity to write and direct ''Das Blaue Licht'' in 1932, she took it. Breaking from her mentor's style of setting realistic stories in "fairytale" mountain settings, Riefenstahl wrote ''Das Blaue Licht'' as a romantic, mystical tale which she viewed as more fitting to the terrain.{{cite video |
| + | | people = Leni Riefenstahl | ||
| + | | year = 1993 | ||
| + | | date = | ||
| + | | title = Die Macht der Bilder: Leni Riefenstahl | ||
| + | | url = | ||
| + | | format = | ||
| + | | medium = motion picture | ||
| + | | publisher = Ray Müller | ||
| + | | location = Germany, Africa | ||
| + | | accessdate = | ||
| + | | accessmonth= | ||
| + | | accessyear = | ||
| + | | time = | ||
| + | }} | ||
| + | |||
| + | ===Propaganda film=== | ||
[[Image:riefenstahl_tdw.jpg|thumb|250px|right|Riefenstahl on a camera dolly (during the production of ''[[Olympia (film)|Olympia]]'')]] | [[Image:riefenstahl_tdw.jpg|thumb|250px|right|Riefenstahl on a camera dolly (during the production of ''[[Olympia (film)|Olympia]]'')]] | ||
| − | Riefenstahl heard [[Adolf Hitler]] speak at a rally in 1932 and was mesmerized by his powers as a public speaker. Upon meeting Riefenstahl, Hitler, himself a | + | Riefenstahl heard [[Adolf Hitler]] speak at a rally in 1932 and was mesmerized by his powers as a public speaker. Upon meeting Riefenstahl, Hitler, himself a frustrated artist, saw the chance to hire a visionary who could create the image of a strong, proud [[Richard Wagner|Wagnerian]] Germany radiating beauty, power, strength, and defiance, an image he could sell to the world. During a personal meeting he asked Riefenstahl to make a documentary and, in 1933, she directed the [[short film]] ''Der Sieg des Glaubens'' (''Victory of Faith''), an hour-long feature about the National Socialist party rally at Nuremberg in 1933 (released on DVD in 2003). Riefenstahl decried the technique in this piece and didn't consider it to be adequately produced to be called a feature. |
| + | |||
| + | Reports vary as to whether Riefenstahl ever had a close relationship with Hitler<ref> See Infield, Glenn B. ''Eva and Adolf'' New York:1974—Grosset and Dunlap (Interviews with former [[SS]] officers who had been close to Hitler and [[Eva Braun]]) Page 128—It was reportedly revealed by [[Ernst Hanfstangl]] that Riefenstahl got the contract to film ''Triumph of the Will'' by dancing in the nude for Hitler in his bedroom (it was well known that Hitler liked use opera glasses to watch [[burlesque]] dancers strip). </ref> but, impressed with her work, he then asked her to film the upcoming 1934 Party rally in Nuremberg. | ||
| + | |||
| + | After initially turning down the project because she did not want to make "a prescribed film", Riefenstahl began making another film titled ''Tiefland''. She hired [[Walter Ruttmann]] to direct it in her place. When she fell ill, ''Tiefland'' was cancelled. Upon her recovery, she reviewed Ruttmann's initial footage and found it to be terrible. She eventually relented to Hitler's pressure, and resumed her role as director of the film. She was given unlimited resources, camera crews, budget, complete artistic control and final cut of the film. | ||
| − | ''Triumph of the Will'' | + | ''Triumph of the Will'' was a documentary generally recognized as a masterful, epic, innovative work of documentary filmmaking. Because it was commissioned by the National Socialist party and used as [[propaganda]], however, critics have said it is nearly impossible to separate the subject from the artist behind it. ''Triumph of the Will'' was a rousing success in [[Europe]], but widely banned in the [[United States]]. The film is widely regarded as one of the most effective pieces of propaganda ever produced. However, in interviews for the 1993 film ''The Wonderful, Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl'', Reifenstahl herself adamantly denied a deliberate attempt to create pro-Nazi propaganda and stated that she was disgusted that ''Triumph of the Will'' was used in such a way.<ref name=int01>Interview with Leni Reifenstahl for ''Macht der Bilder: Leni Riefenstahl, Die/The Wonderful, Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl'', 1993</ref> |
| − | In 1936 Riefenstahl qualified as an athlete to represent Germany in [[cross-country skiing]] for the [[1936 Summer Olympics|Olympics]] but decided to film the event instead. This material became ''[[Olympia (film)|Olympia]]'', a film widely noted for its technical and aesthetic achievements. She adopted a technique commonly known as a [[tracking shot]] and applied it to the documentary form, placing the camera on rails to follow the movement of the athletes. Riefenstahl's achievements in the making of Olympia have proved to be a major influence in modern sports photography. | + | ''Triumph of the Will'' won many international awards as a ground-breaking example of filmmaking. Leni Riefenstahl also made a lesser-known film about the German [[Wehrmacht]], released in 1935 as ''Tag der Freiheit'' (''Day of Freedom''). |
| + | |||
| + | In 1936 Riefenstahl qualified as an athlete to represent Germany in [[cross-country skiing]] for the [[1936 Summer Olympics|Olympics]] but decided to film the event instead. She also went to [[Greece]] (aided by fellow Greek photographer [[Nelly's]]) to film on the Games' original location. This material became ''[[Olympia (film)|Olympia]]'', a film widely noted for its technical and aesthetic achievements. She adopted a technique commonly known as a [[tracking shot]] and applied it to the documentary form, placing the camera on rails to follow the movement of the athletes. Riefenstahl's achievements in the making of Olympia have proved to be a major influence in modern sports photography. | ||
== World War II == | == World War II == | ||
| − | During the [[Invasion of Poland (1939)|Invasion of Poland]] Leni Riefenstahl | + | During the [[Invasion of Poland (1939)|Invasion of Poland]] Leni Riefenstahl was photographed wearing a [[Waffen-SS]] uniform and a pistol on her belt,<ref>[http://www.forumfilmowe.art.pl/wfa/1065382816x33x32x40 Ścinki Taśmy], [[Polityka]], 2003-10-05</ref> while accompanying German soldiers in Poland. On 12 September 1939 she was present in the town of Końskie during an execution of 30 civilians carried out in retaliation of an unspecified attack on German soldiers. According to her [[memoir]] she tried to intervene but a furious German soldier held her at gun point and threatened to shoot her on the spot. Closeup photographs from that day survive, showing a distraught Leni. As a result of the events, Riefenstahl immediately went to meet Hitler who at that time was in Zoppot (now Sopot, Poland) on the [[Baltic sea|Baltic]] watching the Battle of Hel. |
| − | In Zoppot, Riefenstahl used her personal influences to demand an audience with Adolf Hitler. However, by | + | In Zoppot, Riefenstahl used her personal influences to demand an audience with Adolf Hitler. However, by 5 October 1939 Leni Riefenstahl was already back in [[History of Poland (1939–1945)|occupied Poland]] and filming Hitler's [[Invasion of Poland (1939)#Aftermath|victory parade in Warsaw]]. |
| − | + | The [[History Channel]], on its sister channel, History International, released a documentary entitled, ''Hitler's Women: Leni Riefenstahl''[http://www.sbs.com.au/hitlerswomen/]. In it, the accusation is made that Riefenstahl was acutely aware that her films were propaganda. They point to evidence such as the fact that Hitler had a sit-down discussion between Riefenstahl and Hitler's propaganda minister, [[Joseph Goebbels]] at her personal German villa, as seen in this [http://www.latimes.com/travel/la-os-leni16-pg,1,4993192.photogallery?index=3&coll=la-mininav-travel&ctrack=1&cset=true| picture] (Registration Required), to resolve differences the two were having which were causing strife in Hitler's early regime. More interesting are the film clips of Riefenstahl dining with Goebbels and Himmler, and other top men of both the [[Brownshirt]] and [[SS]] branches of [[NSDAP]], intercut with interviews with German historians and WWII scholars questioning how any one could appear at state dinners with top National Socialist officials (eating at the high table with them) and be completely unaware of what politics they were supporting. Furthering the connection, they cite the fact that Riefenstahl sent a celebratory telegram to Hitler after the successful military campaign in France, "Your deeds exceed the power of human imagination. They are without equal in the history of mankind. How can we ever thank you?".<ref> See also [http://www.writing.upenn.edu/~afilreis/Holocaust/riefenstahl-obit.html obituary] and other [http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=52459] </ref> | |
| − | |||
| − | + | Lastly, they detail interviews with actual [[Roma people|Gypsy]] survivors of the Holocaust, who refute Riefenstahl's claims that the concentration camp inmates she used for filming were not killed.<ref> See also [http://www.guardian.co.uk/germany/article/0,2763,776639,00.html Gypsies' Fate Haunts Film Muse of Hitler], ''[[The Guardian]]'', August 17, 2002. </ref> Reifenstahl herself, in interviews, claimed she wasn't aware of the nature of the internment camps.<ref name=int01> </ref> | |
| − | + | ==Postwar accusations, professional disgrace== | |
| + | After [[World War II]], she spent four years in a [[France|French]] [[detention camp]]. She was investigated by postwar authorities several times, but never convicted, either for her alleged role as a propagandist or her use of [[concentration camp]] inmates in her films. See [http://dir.salon.com/story/ent/movies/feature/2002/10/01/leni_riefenstahl/index.html Happy Birthday, Leni Riefenstahl]. In later interviews Riefenstahl maintained that she was "fascinated" by the National Socialists but politically naïve and ignorant about the [[war crime]]s of which they were subsequently found guilty. | ||
| − | + | ===Postwar career, legacy and personal life=== | |
| + | Riefenstahl attempted to make films after the war but each attempt was met with resistance, protests, sharp criticisms and an inability to secure funding. In 1944, she married Peter Jacob, whom she later divorced, and in the 1960s began a lifelong companionship with Horst Kettner, who was forty years her junior. He remained with her until the end of her life. | ||
| − | + | She became a [[photographer]] and was later the first to photograph rock star [[Mick Jagger]] and his wife [[Bianca Jagger|Bianca]] as a couple holding hands after they were married, as they were both admirers. Jagger told Riefenstahl he had seen ''Triumph of the Will'' at least 15 times {{Fact|date=April 2007}}. | |
| − | |||
| − | + | Riefenstahl developed an interest in the [[Nuba]] tribe in [[Sudan]] and lived among the Nuba for various periods. Her books with photographs of the tribe were published in 1974 and 1976. She survived a [[helicopter]] crash in the Sudan in 2000. | |
| − | + | At age 80, Riefenstahl lied about her age to get certified for [[scuba diving]] and began to pursue underwater photography. She released a new film titled ''Impressionen unter Wasser'' (''Underwater Impressions''), an idealized documentary on life in the oceans, on her 100th birthday - August 22, 2002. | |
| − | == Death == | + | ==Death== |
| − | Leni Riefenstahl died in her sleep on [[September 8]] [[2003]], at her home in [[Pöcking]], Germany a few weeks after her 101st birthday. She had been suffering from cancer. She was buried in the [[List_of_cemeteries#Bavaria_.28Bayern.29|Ostfriedhof(Eastern Cemetery)]] in Munich. | + | Leni Riefenstahl died in her sleep on [[September 8]] [[2003]], at her home in [[Pöcking]], Germany a few weeks after her 101st birthday. She had been suffering from cancer. She was buried in the [[List_of_cemeteries#Bavaria_.28Bayern.29|Ostfriedhof (Eastern Cemetery)]] in Munich. |
==Works== | ==Works== | ||
| Line 69: | Line 106: | ||
===Actor=== | ===Actor=== | ||
| − | * '' | + | * ''Wege zu Kraft und Schönheit - Ein Film über moderne Körperkultur'' (''Ways to Strength and Beauty'', 1926) |
| − | * '' | + | * ''Der Heilige Berg'' (''The Holy Mountain'', 1926) |
| − | * '' | + | * ''Der Große Sprung'' (''The Great Leap'', 1927) |
| − | * '' | + | * ''Das Schicksal derer von Habsburg'' (''The Destiny of the Habsburgs'', 1928) |
| − | * '' | + | * ''Die Weiße Hölle vom Piz Palü'' (''The White Hell of Pitz Palu'', 1929) |
| − | * '' | + | * ''Stürme über dem Mont Blanc'' (''Storm Over Mont Blanc'', 1930) |
| − | * '' | + | * ''Der weiße Rausch – neue Wunder des Schneeschuhs'' (''The White Ecstasy'', 1931) |
| − | * '' | + | * ''Das Blaue Licht'' (''The Blue Light'', 1932) |
| − | * '' | + | * ''SOS Eisberg'' (''SOS Iceberg'', 1933) |
| − | * '' | + | * ''Olympia'' (Part 1 ''Festival of the Nations'', 1938) (uncredited, as nude model in opening sequence) |
| − | * '' | + | * ''Tiefland'' (''Lowlands'', 1954) |
===Director=== | ===Director=== | ||
| − | * '' | + | * ''Das Blaue Licht'' (''The Blue Light'', 1932) |
| − | * '' | + | * ''Der Sieg des Glaubens'' (''Victory of Faith'', 1933) |
| − | * '' | + | * ''Triumph des Willens'' (''Triumph of the Will'', 1934) |
| − | * '' | + | * ''Tag der Freiheit - Unsere Wehrmacht'' (''Day of Freedom'', 1935) |
| − | * '' | + | * ''Festliches Nürnberg'' (''Festive Nuremberg'', 1937) |
| − | * '' | + | * ''Olympia'' (Part 1 known as ''Fest der Völker''/''Festival of the Nations'', Part 2 as ''Fest der Schönheit''/''Festival of Beauty'', 1938) |
| − | * '' | + | * ''Tiefland'' (''Lowlands'', 1954) |
| − | * '' | + | * ''Impressionen unter Wasser'' (''Underwater Impressions'', 2002) |
===Photographer=== | ===Photographer=== | ||
| − | * '' | + | * ''The Last of the Nuba'' (Harper, 1974; St. Martin's Press, 1995, ISBN 0-312-13642-0) |
| − | * '' | + | * ''The People of Kau'' (Harper, 1976; St. Martin's Press reprint edition, 1997, ISBN 0-312-16963-9) |
| − | *'' | + | *''Vanishing Africa'' (Harmony 1st American edition, 1988, ISBN 0-517-54914-X) |
| − | *'' | + | *''Africa'' (Taschen, 2002, ISBN 3-8228-1616-7) |
| − | *'' | + | *''Riefenstahl Olympia'' (Taschen, 2002, ISBN 3-8228-1945-X) |
===Author=== | ===Author=== | ||
| − | *'' | + | *''Leni Riefenstahl'' by Leni Riefenstahl, autobiography (Picador Reprint edition, 1995, ISBN 0-312-11926-7) |
| − | *'' | + | *''Coral Gardens'' by Leni Riefenstahl (Harpercollins 1st U.S. edition, 1978, ISBN 0-06-013591-3) |
'''First editions (in German):''' | '''First editions (in German):''' | ||
| − | *Kampf in Schnee und Eis ( | + | *Kampf in Schnee und Eis (Leipzig, 1933) |
| − | *Hinter den Kulissen des Reichsparteitags-Films ( | + | *Hinter den Kulissen des Reichsparteitags-Films (München, 1935) |
| − | *Schönheit im olympischen Kampf ( | + | *Schönheit im olympischen Kampf (Berlin, 1937) |
*Die Nuba (München, 1973) | *Die Nuba (München, 1973) | ||
*Die Nuba von Kau (München, 1976) | *Die Nuba von Kau (München, 1976) | ||
| Line 114: | Line 151: | ||
*Wunder unter Wasser (München, 1990) | *Wunder unter Wasser (München, 1990) | ||
| − | == Notes == | + | ==Notes== |
| + | <div class="small"> | ||
<references/> | <references/> | ||
| + | </div> | ||
==Bibliographies== | ==Bibliographies== | ||
| Line 129: | Line 168: | ||
*''[[The Films of Leni Riefenstahl]]'' by [[David B. Hinton]] ([[Scarecrow Press]] 3rd edition, 2000, ISBN 1-57886-009-1) | *''[[The Films of Leni Riefenstahl]]'' by [[David B. Hinton]] ([[Scarecrow Press]] 3rd edition, 2000, ISBN 1-57886-009-1) | ||
*''[[Leni Riefenstahl: Five Lives]]'' by [[Angelika Taschen]] ([[Taschen]], 2000, ISBN 3-8228-6216-9) | *''[[Leni Riefenstahl: Five Lives]]'' by [[Angelika Taschen]] ([[Taschen]], 2000, ISBN 3-8228-6216-9) | ||
| + | *{{cite book | ||
| + | | last = Bach | ||
| + | | first = Steven | ||
| + | | authorlink = Steven Bach | ||
| + | | coauthors = | ||
| + | | year = 2007 | ||
| + | | title = Leni - The Life and Work of Leni Riefenstahl | ||
| + | | publisher = Knopf | ||
| + | | location = | ||
| + | | id = | ||
| + | }} | ||
==See also== | ==See also== | ||
| − | *[[Olympic films]] | + | * [[Olympic films]] |
| + | * [[Walter Frentz]] | ||
==External links== | ==External links== | ||
| Line 146: | Line 197: | ||
* [http://www.riefenstahl.org/director/1954/dassanowsky-titanic.html Robert von Dassanowsky: ''Tiefland/Titanic'' analysis] | * [http://www.riefenstahl.org/director/1954/dassanowsky-titanic.html Robert von Dassanowsky: ''Tiefland/Titanic'' analysis] | ||
* [http://www.germanhollywood.com/rief.html Biography at The German-Hollywood Connection] | * [http://www.germanhollywood.com/rief.html Biography at The German-Hollywood Connection] | ||
| − | * [http://users.skynet.be/deneulin/video.html (a list of documentaries about and or with Leni Riefenstahl | + | * [http://users.skynet.be/deneulin/video.html (a list of documentaries about and or with Leni Riefenstahl 1965–2004)] |
* [http://www.hyperhistory.org/index.php?option=displaypage&Itemid=703&op=page Leni Riefenstahl: Film Maker Extraordinaire or Nazi Stooge?] National Centre for History Education - Australia] | * [http://www.hyperhistory.org/index.php?option=displaypage&Itemid=703&op=page Leni Riefenstahl: Film Maker Extraordinaire or Nazi Stooge?] National Centre for History Education - Australia] | ||
* [http://users.skynet.be/deneulin/DBL.html Das blaue Licht article] | * [http://users.skynet.be/deneulin/DBL.html Das blaue Licht article] | ||
| Line 152: | Line 203: | ||
* [http://www.observacionesfilosoficas.net/leniriefenstahl.html Leni Riefenstahl y la estetica fascista | In Revista Observaciones Filosoficas] | * [http://www.observacionesfilosoficas.net/leniriefenstahl.html Leni Riefenstahl y la estetica fascista | In Revista Observaciones Filosoficas] | ||
* [http://film.virtual-history.com/person.php?personid=670 Photographs of Leni Riefenstahl] | * [http://film.virtual-history.com/person.php?personid=670 Photographs of Leni Riefenstahl] | ||
| + | |||
| + | {{Riefenstahl}} | ||
| + | |||
| + | |||
| + | <!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]] —> | ||
| + | {{Persondata | ||
| + | |NAME= Riefenstahl, Leni | ||
| + | |ALTERNATIVE NAMES= Riefenstahl, Helene Berta Amalie | ||
| + | |SHORT DESCRIPTION=[[Germany|German]] [[film director]], dancer and [[actress]] | ||
| + | |DATE OF BIRTH= [[August 22]], [[1902]] | ||
| + | |PLACE OF BIRTH= [[Berlin]], [[Germany]] | ||
| + | |DATE OF DEATH= [[September 8]], [[2003]] | ||
| + | |PLACE OF DEATH= [[Berlin]], [[Germany]] | ||
| + | }} | ||
[[category:Art, music, literature, sports and leisure]] | [[category:Art, music, literature, sports and leisure]] | ||
| − | {{credits| | + | {{credits|Leni_Riefenstahl|135334360}} |
Revision as of 05:53, 3 June 2007
| Leni Riefenstahl | |
| File:Leni-Riefenstahl - Profile.jpg Riefenstahl, 1931 | |
| Birth name: | Helene Berta Amalie Riefenstahl |
|---|---|
| Date of birth: | August 22, 1902 |
| Birth location: | Berlin, Germany |
| Date of death: | September 8, 2003,
(age 101) |
| Death location: | Pöcking, Germany |
Helene Bertha Amalie "Leni" Riefenstahl (August 22 1902 – September 8 2003) was a German film director, dancer and actress, and widely noted for her aesthetics and advances in film technique. Her most famous film was Triumph des Willens, a documentary of the 1934 Nuremberg congress of the Nazi Party, which was used by the Third Reich as a powerful propaganda film. Because of Riefenstahl's social prominence in the Third Reich, including a personal acquaintance with Adolf Hitler and Joseph Goebbels, Leni Riefenstahl's film career ended after Germany's defeat in World War II, when she was arrested but not found guilty of war crimes.[1]
Riefenstahl is renowned in film history for developing new aesthetics in film, especially in relation to nude bodies. While the propaganda value of her early films repels many, their aesthetics are cited by many filmmakers as groundbreaking.
Rejected by the film industry after World War II, she later published her still photography of Nuba tribes in Africa and continued to make films of marine life.
Biography
Dancer and actress
Riefenstahl was born in the working class suburb of Wedding in Berlin. Riefenstahl began her career as a self-styled and well-known interpretive dancer. (In a 2002 interview, she said dancing made her truly happy.) After injuring her knee while performing in Prague, she attended a viewing of a nature film about mountains, and became fascinated with the possibilities of the medium. She went to the Alps to find the film's director, Arnold Fanck, intending to become the leading lady in his his next project. Riefenstahl found the star of Fanck's films, who wrote to the director and informed him of Riefenstahl's intentions. Riefenstahl went on to star in a number of Fanck's bergfilme, presenting herself as an athletic and adventurous young woman with suggestive appeal. Riefenstahl's career as an actor in silent films was prolific, and she became highly regarded by directors and publicly popular with German film-goers. Her last acting role before moving to directing was in the 1933 film SOS Eisberg (U.S. title SOS Iceberg).
Riefenstahl brought a perfectionism to filmmaking that enabled her to produce exceptionally polished movies, culminating in her final works in National Socialist Germany. Her main interest at first was in fictional films. When presented with her first opportunity to write and direct Das Blaue Licht in 1932, she took it. Breaking from her mentor's style of setting realistic stories in "fairytale" mountain settings, Riefenstahl wrote Das Blaue Licht as a romantic, mystical tale which she viewed as more fitting to the terrain.Leni Riefenstahl. (1993). Die Macht der Bilder: Leni Riefenstahl [motion picture]. Germany, Africa: Ray Müller.
Propaganda film
Riefenstahl heard Adolf Hitler speak at a rally in 1932 and was mesmerized by his powers as a public speaker. Upon meeting Riefenstahl, Hitler, himself a frustrated artist, saw the chance to hire a visionary who could create the image of a strong, proud Wagnerian Germany radiating beauty, power, strength, and defiance, an image he could sell to the world. During a personal meeting he asked Riefenstahl to make a documentary and, in 1933, she directed the short film Der Sieg des Glaubens (Victory of Faith), an hour-long feature about the National Socialist party rally at Nuremberg in 1933 (released on DVD in 2003). Riefenstahl decried the technique in this piece and didn't consider it to be adequately produced to be called a feature.
Reports vary as to whether Riefenstahl ever had a close relationship with Hitler[2] but, impressed with her work, he then asked her to film the upcoming 1934 Party rally in Nuremberg.
After initially turning down the project because she did not want to make "a prescribed film", Riefenstahl began making another film titled Tiefland. She hired Walter Ruttmann to direct it in her place. When she fell ill, Tiefland was cancelled. Upon her recovery, she reviewed Ruttmann's initial footage and found it to be terrible. She eventually relented to Hitler's pressure, and resumed her role as director of the film. She was given unlimited resources, camera crews, budget, complete artistic control and final cut of the film.
Triumph of the Will was a documentary generally recognized as a masterful, epic, innovative work of documentary filmmaking. Because it was commissioned by the National Socialist party and used as propaganda, however, critics have said it is nearly impossible to separate the subject from the artist behind it. Triumph of the Will was a rousing success in Europe, but widely banned in the United States. The film is widely regarded as one of the most effective pieces of propaganda ever produced. However, in interviews for the 1993 film The Wonderful, Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl, Reifenstahl herself adamantly denied a deliberate attempt to create pro-Nazi propaganda and stated that she was disgusted that Triumph of the Will was used in such a way.[3]
Triumph of the Will won many international awards as a ground-breaking example of filmmaking. Leni Riefenstahl also made a lesser-known film about the German Wehrmacht, released in 1935 as Tag der Freiheit (Day of Freedom).
In 1936 Riefenstahl qualified as an athlete to represent Germany in cross-country skiing for the Olympics but decided to film the event instead. She also went to Greece (aided by fellow Greek photographer Nelly's) to film on the Games' original location. This material became Olympia, a film widely noted for its technical and aesthetic achievements. She adopted a technique commonly known as a tracking shot and applied it to the documentary form, placing the camera on rails to follow the movement of the athletes. Riefenstahl's achievements in the making of Olympia have proved to be a major influence in modern sports photography.
World War II
During the Invasion of Poland Leni Riefenstahl was photographed wearing a Waffen-SS uniform and a pistol on her belt,[4] while accompanying German soldiers in Poland. On 12 September 1939 she was present in the town of Końskie during an execution of 30 civilians carried out in retaliation of an unspecified attack on German soldiers. According to her memoir she tried to intervene but a furious German soldier held her at gun point and threatened to shoot her on the spot. Closeup photographs from that day survive, showing a distraught Leni. As a result of the events, Riefenstahl immediately went to meet Hitler who at that time was in Zoppot (now Sopot, Poland) on the Baltic watching the Battle of Hel.
In Zoppot, Riefenstahl used her personal influences to demand an audience with Adolf Hitler. However, by 5 October 1939 Leni Riefenstahl was already back in occupied Poland and filming Hitler's victory parade in Warsaw.
The History Channel, on its sister channel, History International, released a documentary entitled, Hitler's Women: Leni Riefenstahl[2]. In it, the accusation is made that Riefenstahl was acutely aware that her films were propaganda. They point to evidence such as the fact that Hitler had a sit-down discussion between Riefenstahl and Hitler's propaganda minister, Joseph Goebbels at her personal German villa, as seen in this picture (Registration Required), to resolve differences the two were having which were causing strife in Hitler's early regime. More interesting are the film clips of Riefenstahl dining with Goebbels and Himmler, and other top men of both the Brownshirt and SS branches of NSDAP, intercut with interviews with German historians and WWII scholars questioning how any one could appear at state dinners with top National Socialist officials (eating at the high table with them) and be completely unaware of what politics they were supporting. Furthering the connection, they cite the fact that Riefenstahl sent a celebratory telegram to Hitler after the successful military campaign in France, "Your deeds exceed the power of human imagination. They are without equal in the history of mankind. How can we ever thank you?".[5]
Lastly, they detail interviews with actual Gypsy survivors of the Holocaust, who refute Riefenstahl's claims that the concentration camp inmates she used for filming were not killed.[6] Reifenstahl herself, in interviews, claimed she wasn't aware of the nature of the internment camps.[3]
Postwar accusations, professional disgrace
After World War II, she spent four years in a French detention camp. She was investigated by postwar authorities several times, but never convicted, either for her alleged role as a propagandist or her use of concentration camp inmates in her films. See Happy Birthday, Leni Riefenstahl. In later interviews Riefenstahl maintained that she was "fascinated" by the National Socialists but politically naïve and ignorant about the war crimes of which they were subsequently found guilty.
Postwar career, legacy and personal life
Riefenstahl attempted to make films after the war but each attempt was met with resistance, protests, sharp criticisms and an inability to secure funding. In 1944, she married Peter Jacob, whom she later divorced, and in the 1960s began a lifelong companionship with Horst Kettner, who was forty years her junior. He remained with her until the end of her life.
She became a photographer and was later the first to photograph rock star Mick Jagger and his wife Bianca as a couple holding hands after they were married, as they were both admirers. Jagger told Riefenstahl he had seen Triumph of the Will at least 15 times [citation needed].
Riefenstahl developed an interest in the Nuba tribe in Sudan and lived among the Nuba for various periods. Her books with photographs of the tribe were published in 1974 and 1976. She survived a helicopter crash in the Sudan in 2000.
At age 80, Riefenstahl lied about her age to get certified for scuba diving and began to pursue underwater photography. She released a new film titled Impressionen unter Wasser (Underwater Impressions), an idealized documentary on life in the oceans, on her 100th birthday - August 22, 2002.
Death
Leni Riefenstahl died in her sleep on September 8 2003, at her home in Pöcking, Germany a few weeks after her 101st birthday. She had been suffering from cancer. She was buried in the Ostfriedhof (Eastern Cemetery) in Munich.
Works
Actor
- Wege zu Kraft und Schönheit - Ein Film über moderne Körperkultur (Ways to Strength and Beauty, 1926)
- Der Heilige Berg (The Holy Mountain, 1926)
- Der Große Sprung (The Great Leap, 1927)
- Das Schicksal derer von Habsburg (The Destiny of the Habsburgs, 1928)
- Die Weiße Hölle vom Piz Palü (The White Hell of Pitz Palu, 1929)
- Stürme über dem Mont Blanc (Storm Over Mont Blanc, 1930)
- Der weiße Rausch – neue Wunder des Schneeschuhs (The White Ecstasy, 1931)
- Das Blaue Licht (The Blue Light, 1932)
- SOS Eisberg (SOS Iceberg, 1933)
- Olympia (Part 1 Festival of the Nations, 1938) (uncredited, as nude model in opening sequence)
- Tiefland (Lowlands, 1954)
Director
- Das Blaue Licht (The Blue Light, 1932)
- Der Sieg des Glaubens (Victory of Faith, 1933)
- Triumph des Willens (Triumph of the Will, 1934)
- Tag der Freiheit - Unsere Wehrmacht (Day of Freedom, 1935)
- Festliches Nürnberg (Festive Nuremberg, 1937)
- Olympia (Part 1 known as Fest der Völker/Festival of the Nations, Part 2 as Fest der Schönheit/Festival of Beauty, 1938)
- Tiefland (Lowlands, 1954)
- Impressionen unter Wasser (Underwater Impressions, 2002)
Photographer
- The Last of the Nuba (Harper, 1974; St. Martin's Press, 1995, ISBN 0-312-13642-0)
- The People of Kau (Harper, 1976; St. Martin's Press reprint edition, 1997, ISBN 0-312-16963-9)
- Vanishing Africa (Harmony 1st American edition, 1988, ISBN 0-517-54914-X)
- Africa (Taschen, 2002, ISBN 3-8228-1616-7)
- Riefenstahl Olympia (Taschen, 2002, ISBN 3-8228-1945-X)
Author
- Leni Riefenstahl by Leni Riefenstahl, autobiography (Picador Reprint edition, 1995, ISBN 0-312-11926-7)
- Coral Gardens by Leni Riefenstahl (Harpercollins 1st U.S. edition, 1978, ISBN 0-06-013591-3)
First editions (in German):
- Kampf in Schnee und Eis (Leipzig, 1933)
- Hinter den Kulissen des Reichsparteitags-Films (München, 1935)
- Schönheit im olympischen Kampf (Berlin, 1937)
- Die Nuba (München, 1973)
- Die Nuba von Kau (München, 1976)
- Korallengärten (München, 1978)
- Mein Afrika (München, 1982)
- Memoiren (München, 1987)
- Wunder unter Wasser (München, 1990)
Notes
- ↑ Leni Riefenstahl. (1993). Die Macht der Bilder: Leni Riefenstahl [motion picture]. Germany, Africa: Ray Müller.
- ↑ See Infield, Glenn B. Eva and Adolf New York:1974—Grosset and Dunlap (Interviews with former SS officers who had been close to Hitler and Eva Braun) Page 128—It was reportedly revealed by Ernst Hanfstangl that Riefenstahl got the contract to film Triumph of the Will by dancing in the nude for Hitler in his bedroom (it was well known that Hitler liked use opera glasses to watch burlesque dancers strip).
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Interview with Leni Reifenstahl for Macht der Bilder: Leni Riefenstahl, Die/The Wonderful, Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl, 1993
- ↑ Ścinki Taśmy, Polityka, 2003-10-05
- ↑ See also obituary and other [1]
- ↑ See also Gypsies' Fate Haunts Film Muse of Hitler, The Guardian, August 17, 2002.
Bibliographies
- Leni Riefenstahl Bibliography (via UC Berkeley)
- http://users.skynet.be/deneulin/books.html (see also articles section on that page) over 1400 references in English, German and French
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- Leni Riefenstahl - A Memoir, St. Martin's Press, 1993, ISBN 0-312-09843-X
- A Portrait of Leni Riefenstahl by Audrey Salkeld, 1996, ISBN 0-7126-7338-5
- The Wonderful, Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl, documentary film directed by Ray Müller (1994)
- Leni Riefenstahl: The fallen film goddess by Glenn B. Infield (Crowell, 1976, ISBN 0-690-01167-9)
- Leni Riefenstahl: The Seduction of Genius by Rainer Rother, translated by Martin H. Bott (Continuum International Publishing Group reprint edition, 2003, ISBN 0-8264-7023-8)
- The Films of Leni Riefenstahl by David B. Hinton (Scarecrow Press 3rd edition, 2000, ISBN 1-57886-009-1)
- Leni Riefenstahl: Five Lives by Angelika Taschen (Taschen, 2000, ISBN 3-8228-6216-9)
- Bach, Steven (2007). Leni - The Life and Work of Leni Riefenstahl. Knopf.
See also
- Olympic films
- Walter Frentz
External links
- Das Blaue Licht: The Art of Leni Riefenstahl Unofficial biographical website endorsed by the Riefenstahl Estate
- Her propaganda marches on, An analysis of Victory of Faith and Triumph of the Will.
- Homepage of Leni Riefenstahl
- www.riefenstahl.org - a fanpage, claims the "most accurate and detailed Leni Riefenstahl filmography ... available anywhere."
- Leni Riefenstahl at the Internet Movie Database
- Collection of Internet Resources: Leni Riefenstahl
- Women's History collection
- "Leni Riefenstahl: propagandist for the Third Reich by Stefan Steinberg, on World Socialist Web Site published by the Trotskyist International Committee of the Fourth International
- "Fascinating Fascism", a critical 1974 essay by Susan Sontag (out of Under the Sign of Saturn)
- Robert von Dassanowsky: Tiefland/Titanic analysis
- Biography at The German-Hollywood Connection
- (a list of documentaries about and or with Leni Riefenstahl 1965–2004)
- Leni Riefenstahl: Film Maker Extraordinaire or Nazi Stooge? National Centre for History Education - Australia]
- Das blaue Licht article
- Tiefland article
- Leni Riefenstahl y la estetica fascista | In Revista Observaciones Filosoficas
- Photographs of Leni Riefenstahl
Template:Riefenstahl
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Riefenstahl, Leni |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Riefenstahl, Helene Berta Amalie |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | German film director, dancer and actress |
| DATE OF BIRTH | August 22, 1902 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Berlin, Germany |
| DATE OF DEATH | September 8, 2003 |
| PLACE OF DEATH | Berlin, Germany |
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