The Wonderful, Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl (1993) User Reviews

A most revealing portrait

[bullfrog-5 · 8/10 · 7 March 2000]

This is an excellent biography of one of the most influential filmmakers in history. It not only gives a comprehensive overview of her body of work but reveals many of innovative techniques she pioneered. Her accomplishments are all the more impressive when one considers the role of women in her heyday.

However, the most interesting aspect of this film for me is how this intelligent woman (still lucid in her 90's) deals with queries about her political involvement during the National Socialist period in Germany.

Still Feisty at 90

[sbibb1 · 8/10 · 3 January 2006]

This documentary was apparently one of the first to examine Leni's life with her actually being interviewed at great depth. The film is broken up into two parts, her films as an actress and her relations with the Nazi party, and then her later films and the rest of her life. The film is fascinating, showing many lengthy clips from all her films. There is no questions that she was a very, very talented filmmaker, and very innovative for her time. Many of the camera angles and shots that she used were invented by her, and are still in wide use today.

It is very clear that at the time the film was made, that Leni was still used to being in control. She is apparently difficult as an interview subject, and is seen in many shots refusing to do what the cameraman tells her. She is also very highly defensive of our association with the Nazi party. At one point, the interviewer asks her about her relationship with Goebels. She replies that she knew him only casually and then had a falling out, after which they never spoke again. However, when she is confronted with the diaries of Goebels, and according to them, they both saw each other at numerous social and political functions, Leni becomes mad and walks out.

My own personal belief is that she has tried to whitewash her association with the Nazi party in her later years.

A Documentary on Making Documentaries

[fkerr · 7/10 · 13 September 2002]

For American tastes, this documentary is much too long for the subject matter. Yet, it is worth watching for several reasons. Considerable insight into the early appeal of Hitler to the German people shows through Frau Riefenstahl's comments. More than that, though, is the detailed presentation of a master documentary filmmaker and her secrets. As evidenced through her later work in Africa and under the sea, she is an amazing woman. Her comments and her work are presented in such a way that both can be appreciated.

A glimpse of the German soul as well as a documentary

[B24 · 10/10 · 4 April 2003]

In this year that Bowling For Columbine -- an unapologetically political and controversial film -- has won the Oscar for best documentary, the story of Leni Riefenstahl and her work seems very timely indeed. This engaging montage of primary and contemporary interviews with her, together with samples of her oeuvre beginning in the era of silent film, accomplish precisely what a documentary is designed to do. Director Mueller spares no effort to uncover his subject's motivation, even as he focusses on the history and nature of her art.

There is some irony at work here. We see a very German director attempting to dissect thoroughly the life and craft of another very German director. Not that there is any comparison to be made between the subject matter of one to the other, but when Riefenstahl takes Mueller to task for his filmmaking style in drawing her out, we cannot help but find delight in it. And his bit of eavesdropping on her between takes is priceless.

Far from the perennial films about the Holocaust that portray Germans as something less than human, this documentary offers ample evidence that genius and human frailty are universal and far from mutually exclusive attributes in all sorts of people. But if one may deduce anything at all about the nature of the German soul in contrast to that of, say, a typical American, the life of Leni Riefenstahl as offered here stands out vividly by example of first one and then the other seemingly contradictory characteristic. She was after all the "nice" girl who stayed home and played patriot while Marlene Dietrich was the "bad" girl who betrayed her country. One can almost smell the cordite in the air during their related encounters.

Much is made of the fact that Ms. Riefenstahl protests too much. Indeed that is a complaint one hears often about Germans who lived through the Hitler epoch seeing nothing, hearing nothing. But that surely begs the question, considering that it was and is a nation of eighty million descended from a vast cross section of central European races, including uncounted geniuses, saints, and criminals alike. If there is anything uniquely German about such a pose, it is only that they tend to be meticulously accurate in everything they do, whether for good or evil. The most annoying thing about Germans is their uncanny zeal in trying to find exact words that reflect logical and complicated reasons for everything -- including their own behavior. Under that circumstance, it is but a short step to denial once no easy answers appear.

As a bilingual viewer of this documentary, I had the benefit of second-guessing the subtitles as well. Some were wildly wrong, and none could capture the tonal nuances, the careful phrasing, and the subtle interplay between Mueller and Riefenstahl as they parried one another's verbal thrusts. While far less original and profound than the master's work being discussed, Mueller did a very creditable job here.

Individuals Win

[tedg · 21 December 2005]

Interesting. This is a good documentary about a great documentarian.

I guess the normal form for commenting on this is to take a side on the art/politics controversy. Or perhaps to note film as propaganda tool today.

I think I would rather simply remark that you just cannot watch movies as a lucid viewer without understanding something about who you are in the things. And that means wondering about who the filmmaker thinks you are. And that in turn means considering what it means when a camera is placed or moves in a certain way.

If you do, you will find yourself wondering about the camera of Hitchcock and Welles. Surely that is at least as fundamental as you need to go. But you can go a half step further back and you will find yourself here, with this woman and her dancing eye.

Yes, her personality at 90 is still German, which means she is a romantic idealist and an apologist for her generation. Annoying, but typical. And does it matter? Does it matter if, say, van Gogh was an anti-Semite? You decide. For me, I assume the artist is often the dumbest person involved in the process and the last person to ask. So the art is the thing.

There are three great things she did, and these are apart from the idealization of the body, a constant theme.

She advanced the art of filters to create abstract frames. In this, she was merely one in a line of talents. She was an innovator in creating a new philosophy of the camera. In this, she was a genius. But that wouldn't have mattered if she wasn't also a genius innovator in the art of editing.

She understood that in addition to the story, the images themselves have a rhythm and song apart from the thing depicted. I think she really means it when she says her great propaganda film could have been of any choreographed event. She was a master of exploiting the movement of the eye as well as the movement of the subject, even the rhythm of the greyscales and depths. You need to watch "Triumph" and "Olympia" ignoring the subject, perhaps upside down as I did to see the music.

Having said that, the effect of these two films undeniably altered life. The Nazi film was the single greatest influence in convincing the rural German public to support Hitler. That's huge. But perhaps a larger impact was on sports. Until that point, sports were something you did or read about. You might go to a contest purely for the association of the thing.

What her art did, incidentally, was she made sports cinematic. And we may all be the worse for it.

Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.

A Documentary Film as Legendary as its Subject - Unforgettable!

[bragant · 10/10 · 8 March 2010]

Although this remarkable documentary is usually known in the English-speaking world as "The Wonderful, Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl," the German title (in translation) is "The Power of Images: Leni Riefenstahl." The difference is not merely one of semantics - Ray Muller's biopic of the woman best remembered as "Hitler's favorite filmmaker" goes beyond its subject to raise profound questions about the deepest effects of art and the visual image on history and human consciousness. Leni Riefenstahl's 1930s films - the NASDAP films "Victory of the Faith," "Triumph of the Will," the little-known (and long-thought-lost) "Day of Freedom: Armed Forces," and "Olympia" simultaneously broke new ground in the development of cinematic form, made her the first internationally-celebrated female director, and created an image of National Socialist Germany so powerful and compelling that to this very day, images from Riefenstahl's work are routinely stolen and used to symbolize the Nazi period in literally hundreds of television programs (just watch anything on the History Channel!), usually without any credit to her. Indeed, as Mueller points out, it was Riefenstahl whose work transformed a ragtag, motley band of German politicians and soldiers into awesome figures of terrible strength and force - as Muller notes, "She made the Nazis look like Nazis." Already one of the most famous women in Europe long before she started working for Hitler, Leni Riefenstahl was a legend in her own time and is still the best-known female director in history, despite the fact that she made only one major film after 1938. This documentary artfully mixes period footage, extended clips from Riefenstahl's films, and interviews with the director and her associates, including cameramen who worked with her and her longtime companion (who was 40-plus years younger than his famous lover!). Proceeding in chronological order, Muller's film covers every aspect of this amazing woman's life, from her early days as a dancer in the mode of Isadora Duncan and Ruth St. Denis, to her ground-breaking and technically stunning "Mountain Films" where she was usually cast as a lovely daredevil, to her later work as a photographer in the Sudan and in the deepest ocean.

It is impossible to watch this film and be unimpressed with Frau Riefenstahl's talent, drive, and sheer force of personality - one can hardly believe one's eyes when one watches this tiny, wizened ancient bellowing orders at the director and literally shaking him senseless (a man a quarter her age and half her size!) when he has the temerity to disagree with her suggestions on how she should be photographed. It is also impossible not to be disgusted by Frau Riefenstahl's complete self-involvement and her total refusal to consider that the content of her work might have a political component beyond her original intent.

Riefenstahl is a rare example of a female aesthete - a woman whose whole life was governed by a vision of ideal beauty. Beauty, however, is not a democratic phenomenon, and this is where Riefenstahl's life and career begin to raise some very dark and troubling issues for those of us who like to tell ourselves that art is always a force for good. To the end of his days, Hitler saw himself first and foremost as an artist - an individual who uses their powers of perception to shape a new reality. For both Riefenstahl and Hitler, the art of ancient Greece and Rome represented the pinnacle of human physical capacity and offered a vision of perfect beauty beyond time and space, a vision which Hitler was determined to transform into reality, using the "Aryan" German people as his raw material. A single shot in "Olympia" makes this notion quite clear - the famous lap-dissolve between the white marble of Myron's celebrated "Diskobolos" and the living, moving body of an Olympic athlete hurling his discus into space. Connoisseurs of art will know that the pose of Myron's statue is in fact anatomically impossible to assume (try it yourself), but Riefenstahl's evil genius and simplistic mind equated physical reality with the principles of classical art, itself almost always ideal rather than real. Our own society over the past few decades seems to have succumbed to a kind of thinking which - like Riefenstahl, Hitler and the Ancient Greeks - equates physical beauty with moral virtue and ultimate truth. No wonder Riefenstahl's visual style and photographic skills are copied again and again by sports shows and commercials - all of which are usually selling a product to a viewer by appealing to our vanity and desire to be "perfect" - and thus loved and adored. This is why Leni Riefenstahl's work is so dangerous - consider the suffering generated in our own society by the obsession so many of us seem to have with being "beautiful" and "perfect." In a world where plastic surgery is now a multi-billion dollar business and millions of people seem to have no other ambition than maximizing their physical attractiveness, shouldn't we be asking ourselves some very serious questions about our own aesthetic ideals and their consequences, given the fact that the cult of beauty and perfection in our age seems to result so often in death and pain? Ray Muller's film is one of the few works of art in our time to raise these questions seriously. Whatever you may think of Riefenstahl and her art, the fact remains that her life and career are more relevant than ever. "The Power of Images" indeed.

The Banality of Evil

[davesf · 9/10 · 29 November 2007]

If you've ever been curious about filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl, or more significantly, have wondered how a civilized nation like Germany could have stumbled into a black hole of evil and tyranny, you must see this superbly made documentary. It is scrupulously fair, presenting both exonerating and damning evidence without flinching. While it's very clear that Riefenstahl was not evil in the sense that Hitler, Goebbels, Goering, and Hess were, she certainly had blind spots, and a tendency to let wishful thinking sway her judgment. Like most Germans at the time, she often looked the other way when she could (though not always, as on at least two occasions she probably put herself at risk by openly criticizing the Nazi regime).

She is shown as being far more interested in art than in Nazism. I had barely realized what an extraordinary talent she was, not just as a movie maker but as a dancer, mountaineer, actress, and photographer. It is so sad that she became a significant cog in the Nazi regime, and was severely punished as a result (as indeed all of Germany was). It would have been worse if they had not.

"Triumph of the Will" stands as a monument, a sobering reminder of the madness of crowds and the potential tragedy that lurks when they come under the sway of a master manipulator. Riefenstahl's personal tragedy finds some vindication in her willingness to make this film and thus to help us learn the lessons from her life.

9 points.

Amazing. There's just nothing else to say about it.

[Kieran_Kenney · 9/10 · 21 May 2003]

****CONTAINS SPOILERS****

Finally somebody has ventured out to examine Leni Riefenstahl's

career, films, life and images without pointing a finger at her and

calling her a facist or a Nazi. I'd read about Riefenstahl before and

knew her work but never once did I realize the scope of her work,

the odds she has faced. Never did I really understand her, or at

least feel like I did. I certainly feel that I understand her more now.

At age 90 (or so), we follow Leni, still a charismatic and vivacious

woman, to the barren, snow-covered mountains she climbed in

those lyrical Bergfilms that she began her film career with. It's

incredible to see her walk though the very same UFA sound stage

where she first met von Sternberg and Marlene Dietrich, or to

watch her as she stands on the exact spot in a subway where she

saw an advertisement that changed the course of her life. It's also

amazing to see the footage that was shot for the documentary of

the Nuba tribespeople, footage that was never made into a movie.

And where did they find all that behind-the-scenes footage from

The White Hell of Pitz-Palu and Olympia?!? Just seeing that is

worth viewing this movie.

Throughout the documentary, Riefenstahl keeps telling us that

Triumph of the Will was just a job, and from what she says, I

believe her. I'm sorry, but I just do. There's no question she made

probably the best propaganda film ever (Bowling for Columbine

not with standing; of course they're two VERY differant movies). It's

just that she wanted to do do something new on film, something

that had never been done before. I'm not trying to justify anything

the Nazis did. That's just the way I see it.

My favorite scenes in this movie are the ones in which Riefenstahl

is caught behind the scenes, arguing with her long-suffering

director, proving that she's still very much an individual, still very

much a director herself. When she says something to the effect of

"The camera must always be on me!" you can tell that being

recognized as an artist and an important person is clearly getting

to her head. Frankly, I don't blame her. If I'd done as much as she

had to push the bounderies of cinema and then be scorned

because of one film, I'd want all the sudden attention I could get.

A good but not candid biography

[artisticengineer · 6/10 · 26 December 2008]

This is a a pretty good biography of Leni Riefenstahl; done in her dotage- about ten years before she died when she was relatively still quite active. Though the film does not really emphasize this, Leni was VERY active for a 90 year old woman and ultimately lived to be 101! Now, having mentioned that it should also be noted that about 80% of this movie covers the work she did before she reached the age of 43. Imagine a biographical movie of Bob Hope (her closest contemporary) that profiles his work from age 24 to 42 (end of WWII) and then passes over most of what he did afterwords until he was 90! One would certainly miss a lot of good biography! In the case of Riefenstahl the years from her early 40s to her early 60s are not of much interest, biography wise, as she was inactive due to one fact: Her side had lost the war. If the Allied side had lost the war then I think Leni Riefenstahl would have been quite active and well known throughout most of the world during that time.

Since the side she was on did lose the war Leni was very hesitant to say that she really supported the National Socialist movement in Germany. When confronted with some written facts concerning her involvement (such as entries in Goebbels diary) she either denies it, or when she cannot deny something (such as her congratulatory telegraph to Hitler when German forces marched into Paris in 1940) she offers a different "interpretation" of why she sent the telegram. Obviously she was lying then, but I do believe she was truthful to some degree about her ambivalence towards the National Socialist movement. Suffice to say that there are some pointed questions directed at her (in her dotage) during this documentary, and she does try to answer most of them.

For the movie maker enthusiast there are some real good segments on how she (and her workers) did the filming of Nazi marches and Olympic sporting events as well as in some of her theatrical released films. The biography makers seem to give her at least grudging admiration for her work and accomplishments. I am of the same opinion myself.

Perhaps the final judgment of her (if not of her work) lies with the "De Nazification" Panel that reviewed her during the post war era. They came to the conclusion (which I, for one, support) that though she was not a Nazi; she was definitely a Nazi sympathizer. And, it would be hard to refute that finding. All things considered that was not necessarily that terrible of a finding (at least for most people living in Germany then), but the horrified look on her face (in a photograph taken when the finding was announced) showed that she realized, at that very moment, that her career as a movie maker was finished. Had she been working for the equally repulsive dictator Joseph Stalin a finding that she was a Communist sympathizer would not have hurt her as much as the Russians were on the winning side. But, the side she did work for lost the war, and she lost her career as a result of that.

The power of prejudice

[kaffee24 · 10/10 · 19 May 2007]

If you really want to know about her work, this is definitely the best piece of information to get started. About 3 hours long, it covers her extraordinary life from early beginnings as a dancer to growing fame as actress, film director and photographer - and along the way, of course, meeting Hitler and becoming "his" infamous cinematographer. After the Second World War she was vilified as Hitler's mistress and icon of obstinacy for more than 50 years. While some of the myths surrounding her are only recently being - audibly - refuted, can we now step forward and take Leni Riefenstahl for who she was - especially Germans?

This film was the first to try. It is careful to create a continuing dialog with its subject, something all other portraits I've seen so far are lacking. While its approach focuses on film-making techniques, the political side of things is never out of the broader picture. The filmmaker doesn't avoid confrontation, but in all fairness - you see the response immediately on screen, sometimes in off-camera moments that are quite funny to watch. You get to know the less pleasant sides of Riefenstahl's personality as well - clearly she's often uncomfortable with prying questions, but her occasional outbursts are a display of honesty and make the film more interesting to watch. Especially "Olympia" 1936 and "Triumph of the Will" are extensively featured, but also the first images of her 2002 documentary "Underwater Impressions".

This film deserves 10 stars out of 10. It is unique in its fairness and will likely never be surpassed in depth because of Leni Riefenstahl's death in 2003, at the age of 101. The controversy around her will surely last. Quite believably she never was a Nazi or a Jew-hater, but that didn't prevent her from promoting the champion of Antisemitism (who only showed the best of his faces in her films). There has been a lot of reevaluation going on around her, sparked not in the least by this documentary - too much, some critics fear. Riefenstahl belonged to those who didn't sign a blank confession and go on with their lives, or weren't allowed to. All these years she didn't apologize enough - that is the reason for her reprobation, but maybe it is honest to say that letting "Hitler's" filmmaker get back to business in the sight of the world would have been too embarrassing for Germany, which is still being judged by the Second World War. Her guilt is that of the wartime generation, with added sentence for her willingness to play along rather than emigrate - which she might have done at any time.

So while she is not entirely a martyr of German guilty conscience, she deserves to be cleared from the heaps of dirt flung upon her by paparazzi, and she deserves to speak for herself.

Very long but also very worthwhile

[gridoon2024 · 7/10 · 13 July 2019]

Remarkably in-depth, objective documentary about Leni Riefenstahl which covers her life journey from her early days as a dancer and a star of mountain-climbing adventure films to her latter-day fascination with primitive African tribes and the underwater flora and fauna. Of course the bulk of the film focuses on her famous Nazi-period documentaries, "Triumph of the Will" and "Olympia". Although this project was obviously completed with Riefenstahl's collaboration, it does not shy away from her naivete and contradictions; on the other hand, it presents an extensive account of her technical innovations, and makes sure to clear in our minds the chasm between the aesthetic perfection she tried to achieve in her art, and the "master race" ideals of Hitler and his Party. It's a very long film (3 hours), but most worthwhile if you're at all interested in the subject. *** out of 4.

Wow...this documentary is over three hours long and deals with a lot of touchy subjects!

[planktonrules · 10/10 · 28 October 2010]

One of my biggest complaints I have about biographies and biopics is that they are way too brief and tend to skip a lot of important material. Fortunately, this documentary about the controversial and long-lived film star and director, Leni Riefenstahl, is not short--clocking in at well over three hours! It certainly can't be seen as incomplete! The only question, then, is would the average person find it worth designating a huge block to time to just one documentary? Read on and see.

The first thing I noticed was that at 90 years of age, Ms. Riefenstahl was amazingly lucid and full of life...and well-preserved. So, most of the film consisted of her talking about her life--and it was not just a lot of old film with narration. I also noticed that the film makers did a good job of assembling old silent film footage from her films--all with excellent prints and properly tinted. This didn't surprise me too much, as I've seen most of the existing films of Riefenstahl and knew that good copies existed--I am just glad that the film makers didn't use the usual scratchy film footage.

Next came the most anticipated portion of the documentary--Riefenstahl's involvement with the Nazis and the filming of her brilliantly artistic "Triumph of the Will". At times, Riefenstahl was amazingly candid while at other times she talked as if she was only a detached outsider and not one of those responsible for the almost god-like image of Hitler. Interestingly, as times she got angry and insisted she was apolitical despite this tribute film. This was where it got VERY interesting! All these denials and minimizations contrasted with her brilliantly composed shots from "Triumph". Occasionally, her arguments made sense...while at others you marveled at how she seemed to delude herself and minimize her contributions.

The film continues by discussing Riefenstahl's other pre-war and wartime films as well as her trial during the de-Nazification period. However, this only took her up to the middle of her life. What's interesting, then, is how she spent her final decades. Instead of either a glowing film career or spending the rest of her life in hiding, Riefenstahl did NOT sit still but spent this period living among tribes in Southern Sudan and scuba diving--getting certified at age 70 and continuing to diving at age 90. What happened after that is not covered, as the film ended at this point--yet this incredibly interesting and flawed woman continued to live for more than a decade longer! Overall, this was a sweeping film that managed to both confront Reifenstahl AND praise her--an odd combination to say the least. Though, of course, Reifenstahl was no ordinary person. Fascinating from start to finish.

Spot-on summary of Leni Riefenstahl's professional life

[Horst_In_Translation · 6/10 · 9 September 2016]

"Die Macht der Bilder: Leni Riefenstahl" or "The Wonderful, Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl" is a co-production by several European countries that resulted in a German-language documentary back in 1993, so this one will soon have its 25th anniversary. At that point, German actress and filmmaker was around the age of 90 and still live on for over 10 years afterward. At one point in the film, she calls death a salvation for her, but she still needed to wait for quite a while. The writer and director is Ray Müller and this is his most known work, not only because of the subject, but also because of the awards attention it received. This documentary runs for a massive three hours and there are basically two things in here: old footage and new recordings. The former, of course, is taken from Riefenstahl's films in front of and behind the camera and we also see some scenes with the high-profile Nazi politicians. The new footage are all interviews with Riefenstahl about her work and especially about the political context she lived in being Hitler's favorite filmmaker.

It was very easy to see how much she was still suffering from her past and that the lasts half hour is what she enjoyed the most, when Müller reports on her more recent work in Africa and under the sea as there is no dark connection attached to these movies. About her work from the first half of the 20th century, there obviously is and Riefenstahl keeps justifying and explaining it with the crucial difference between art and politics and how she cannot be blamed for the intentions Hitler and Goebbels had for their films. She was just a tool used by them (and it was impossible to refuse pretty much) and she tried to deliver still as a creative filmmaker. The truth is certainly in-between there somewhere, even if I must say that after watching this film it is difficult to really blame Riefenstahl for anything and lets be honest here: Isn't it already punishment how her name will be linked for ever to the Nazi regime and their horrible crimes and at least, she did not make any of these concentration camp film or the truly antisemitic ones like other German filmmaker. There were moments during these three hours where I felt that she was probably not entirely honest. For example, I don't believe Goebbels was lying in his diary about Riefenstahl being a frequent guest at the homes of Goebbels and Hitler, which is one of the most tense moments of the film when we see Riefenstahl truly in anger. Then again, she is right that Goebbels was a perfect liar, so who knows.

All in all I enjoyed the watch. I don't think it is a film that will really get you interested in the subject of filmmaking, Nazi Germany and the controversial character Leni Riefenstahl. You already need to have an interest before to really appreciate this one. The one thing I was missing a bit was a more personal take on Riefenstahl's private and family life, which was missing entirely. But maybe Riefenstahl did not want it to be a part of this documentary and you cannot really blame her or Müller or anybody else for not elaborating on this area at all. It's also not necessary to turn this one into a success. Thumbs up from me. Go see it.

Beautifully-done documentary, long but thought-provoking.

[mpenman · 19 November 1999]

This film explores the boundaries between the artistic and the political (or, when does fiction have to pay for the reality it may help to create?).

Why is Leni Riefenstahl, who created propaganda for the murderous Hitler ("Olympia" -- which pioneered many of the techniques now cliche in sports camerawork and editing, and the notorious "Triumph of the Will"), despised and reviled while the work of Eisenstein and others who created propaganda for the murderous Stalin is lovingly taught in film schools? Well, maybe it was because Stalin was on the winning side of the war, according to Ms. Riefenstahl, a tough old broad who was apparently ecstatic about being interviewed. Up to a point.

This is a top-notch documentary. The cinematography is gorgeous. The probing questions are important. Riefenstahl is alternately combative, charming, evasive . . . and a whole lot of other things.

I give it a 9 of 10.

good documentary overall

[cstotlar-1 · 8/10 · 30 September 2013]

The real benefit of this documentary is bringing some great works of Leni Riefenstahl back into circulation and thought. For years, as well as with with the makers of this documentary to some extent, the purpose of any interview with Riefenstahl was to trap her into her personal affairs with top-ranking Nazi officials, being Hitler's mistress and so on when in fact she wasn't even a card-carrying member of the Party. She spent much of her life in courts disputing her connections and she won all of the many cases against her. The assertion that she had been in contact with Goebbels after their dispute is both nit-picking and rather low. She remained German to the very end and not, as too many people assume, Nazi. There is a distinction - please! What counts above all else is her extraordinary talent for making great documentaries. They were well presented here with no extraneous opinions and for that, this is a very good film.

Curtis Stotlar

Comprehensive look at a complex life of a great filmaker

[dale-51649 · 9/10 · 27 July 2019]

Leni Reifensthl was a great filmmaker who broke ground using what were new techniques at the time. She was typical in that she used her looks and sex appeal to gain access to powerful men who could help her career. She was unusual in that she was extremely disciplined and hardworking, as is evidenced by her free climbing advanced and dangerous mountain walls, sans ropes or safety equipment, risking life and limb for her art. Most who watch the film will be vaguely aware of this woman who obviously did get work in "the biz", but worked for the Nazis. She was at best a sympathizer, and at worst a co conspirator who helped Hitler by designing films that would convert people into Nazis. Her claim is that she was an innocent actress and filmmaker wanna b,who knew nothing about politics and just wanted to make films.. Some say she was much more snuggly w the brass at headquarters, including Gobble's diary entries, and she does look awfully smiley and haughty in photos as she poses with the furer. On the other hand she is rather convincing in her story. and It's hard to tell what really went down. Usually in life the truth lies somewhere in between. It is not hard to believe a beautiful actress wouldn't know and or care about politics, but it's also easy to believe she might throw herself at the powers that be as well....It could happen. The fascinating part of this a trace too long doc is the part where she describes going to see Hitler speak for the first time, and meeting him for a one on one shortly after. To be able to get a window into such powerful occurrences from someone who was actually there is captivating, even if one eyebrow is raised as you try to decide how much of it is actually true. She did get a chance to get her say, and have to say it struck me as mostly true, mostly....

Very Good Documentary

[EdgarST · 8/10 · 18 July 2013]

The horrible, manipulative English DVD title and packaging of Ray Müller's "Die Macht der Bilder" should not prevent you from watching this portrait of a fascinating personality, beautiful woman and polemic figure. Beyond all ideological or emotional reactions to Leni Riefenstahl's films, this works proves beyond doubt that she was a masterful filmmaker. The careful conception and framing of the persons, objects and events she filmed, the beauty of the resulting images, the inventiveness of her "mise-en-caméra", her passion and vision, make Riefenstahl a major figure of film history and one of the greatest contributors to the evolution of film expression. The complete 200 minute version of Müller's documentary includes four sequences that were cut from the international edition. Two of them are in the second part, and they are chronologically disrupting, for they were inserted before showing her photographic work with the Nubas in Africa, and the underwater shootings during the final part of her life. One sequence in particular (a most embarrassing and decadent montage in Las Vegas, visiting her magician friends Siegfried & Roy) damages the documentary, for it shows --for no dramatic reason-- Riefenstahl's least appealing and most frivolous side, right after the tragic account of the trials she went through after the war ended. On the other hand, the extensive footage filmed in Tokyo, where the exhibit "Leni Riefenstahl - Life" opened in 1991, though out of place, is welcome for it shows that her work was reinstated and recognized in some places during her lifetime. The exhibit was one of the first comprehensive displays of her photographic work, mainly consisting of photos of or by her, of enlarged frames of films she played in as an actress and of films she made herself. There is also a section of Riefenstahl posing for photographs. For a complete portrait of Riefenstahl these sequences add another angle, and although Müller's work loses some cohesiveness, the negative effect of these sections is not powerful enough as to erase the impact one experiences before and after, in this approximation to Leni Riefenstahl's impressive, tragic and rich life.

Fascinating Look at Art and Politics

[meridian2002 · 10/10 · 25 November 2006]

Never before has there been such a figure as Leni Riefenstahl. A brilliant, ingenious and groundbreaking early filmmaker whose innovative techniques are commonplace today, she made the fatal mistake of putting her talent to work for the baddest bad guys the world has ever known -- The Nazis.

This film does a more than credible job of revealing the conflicting truths about this remarkable woman.

Anyone interested in how art and politics influence each other, interested in the history of film-making or the history of propaganda should go out of their way to find and watch this film.

Highly recommended.

This is an interesting one...

[tobydale · 7/10 · 26 March 2024]

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.

She was on the wrong side of her country's history.

[shu-fen · 9/10 · 13 August 2004]

Athens 2004, the 28th Olympiad starts at this very moment. The very person I can think of is the late 101-year-old controversial, influential and unbeatable Leni Riefenstahl, a poor wasted genius whose life and career were both 100% brutally ruined by a political party, or maybe herself too.

The fantastic and unforgettable dogme covers her life comprehensively since her rise to fame as an actress in silent movie until her most recent life in early 90's. No one would deny that she was a pioneer in film-making especially the technical aspect. Some of her invented methods are still widely adopted: burying a camera into the ground to shoot a running athlete etc. And again, sheerly from the artistic point of view, (sorry, Jewish friends), no one would deny her Olympia: Festival of the Nations + Festival of Beauty and Triumph of the Will are films which can successfully instigate the Aryan patriotism and emotion. Picture that, she had done all these in her thirties.

What hits people the most should be Riefenstahl's toughness and strong will. That's exactly what I envy of: her infinite energy and creativity. Though she failed to collect funds to produce films, she turned to African tribes, the underwater organism and we can still see her dazzling light in photography. She was full of humour, for instance, she told the dogme directors that she lied about her age (to be 20 years younger, "70") so she could dive into deep water at 90 in a childlike manner. She complained to the production crew that "talking while walking is like a talking vampire" that she didn't want to use the mic.

She may or might have created her own tragedy. "Wrong timing", I believe should be the most appropriate description of her life: she rose to fame too soon and rolled down from it too soon. RIP, Leni, you don't need to shoot anything about the 2004 Athens Olympic Games for anyone's ambition, including your own.

The Horrible, Life-Long Burden Of Being A Nazi Supporter

[StrictlyConfidential · 7/10 · 13 May 2020]

This 3-hour presentation (from 1993) is an intriguing bio-documentary featuring exclusive interview footage with filmmaker, Leni Riefenstahl (90 at the time) who, during WW2, was the chosen film director of the ruthless Nazi leader, Adolf Hitler.

Following the end of the 2nd World War - Leni was, pretty much, persecuted all of her life (wherever she went).

In this historical presentation - Leni not only talks candidly about her professional relationship with awful Adolf - But, she also discloses the burden that she has had to carry for being a Nazi supporter.

This documentary is sure to be of great interest to viewers who are keen on hearing what a privileged insider had to say about the likes of Hitler and Nazism.

(*Note*) - In 2003 - Leni Riefenstahl (101 at the time) died of cancer.

Wonderful Horrible World Of Leni Riefenstahl (1993) documentary about an amazing woman and a great artist

[DavidAllenUSA · 10/10 · 19 November 2010]

The Wonderful Horrible World Of Leni Riefenstahl (1993) documentary was filmed with actress, dancer, movie director, photographer Leni Riefenstahl's permission, participation, and help (she supplied many examples of her movies, still photos, and other important memorabilia to the producer of the movie, Ron Muller).

She was 90 years old when the movie was made in 1993, and was then in amazingly good health both physically and mentally. She dressed herself in attractive, stylish clothes and had attractively colored (ash blonde) and styled hair at a level of handsomeness never seen on most 90 year old persons of either gender. In her youth (the 1920's) she was a stage and movie actress and dancer famous for her attractive, shapely, sensuous legs.

We see those same legs displayed bare, still shapely and attractive, in a scene toward the end of this documentary where she sits on a bed with her boyfriend "Horst" (40 years younger than she, and by then her "companion" and protégé of 18 years at least), watching beautiful underwater video camera-work they both did...a scene where Leni actually caresses the huge back of an unresisting Giant Manta Sting Ray with a body at least four feet in diameter, and a deadly "sting" tail which could easily kill any diver or other person unlucky enough to touch the tail.

Leni Riefenstahl (1903 - 2004) died at age 101 following an incredible life as a performing and photographic artist which continued literally until the year she died. She never "retired," quit, or ceased her artistic activity or the promotion and publicity of that activity.

The Wonderful Horrible World Of Leni Riefenstahl (1993) documentary by Ron Muller was made with Leni's full cooperation and participation (and possibly co-ownership) and made intentionally dramatic and riveting because Riefenstahl knew the importance of publicity and keeping her name in the public eye, and examples of her work provided for mass public attention.

Much of what she did over her life was done with her own money and resources. She was an owner as well as a hired artist, and a very prosperous person thanks to her business acumen and abilities.

She owned both the famous Trimph Of The Will (1934) documentary depiction of the 1934 Nuremburg Germany Nazi Party three day outdoor rally and gathering, and also owned the Olympia (1936) documentary about the World Olympic Games For 1936 held that year in Munich, Germany.

After World War II and the defeat of Germany, she moved to insist on legal and financial control of both those important (landmark) documentary movies, and money she obtained due to her control of the two famous documentaries (and also of feature movies she acted and danced in done before 1934, both sound and silent movies of fame and great art and skill) was used to fund further artistic, photographic and underwater video projects she continued to work on through her ninth decade.

Leni Riefenstahl (1903-2004) was a remarkable woman, and this documentary portrait of her is worth screening over and over again.

She is a role model for all women, and all preforming and photographic/ cinematic artists of all ages, and in all countries.

------------

Written by Tex Allen, SAG Actor. Visit WWW.IMDb.Com and choose "Tex Allen" "resume" for contact information, movie credits, and biographical information about Tex Allen.

He has reviewed more than 42 movies posted on WWW.IMDb.Com (the world's largest movie information database, owned by Amazon.Com) as of January 2011.

These include: 1. Alfie (1966) 29 July 2009 2. Alien (1979) 24 July 2009 3. All the Loving Couples (1969) 17 January 2011 4. All the President's Men (1976) 16 November 2010 5. American Graffiti (1973) 22 November 2010 6. Animal House (1978) 16 August 2009 7. Bullitt (1968) 23 July 2009 8. Captain Kidd (1945) 28 July 2009 9. Child Bride (1938) 24 September 2009 10. Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954) 22 September 2010 11. Destination Moon (1950) 17 January 2011 12. Detour (1945) 19 November 2010 13. Die Hard 2 (1990) 23 December 2010 14. The Wonderful, Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl (1993) 19 November 2010 15. Jack and the Beanstalk (1952) 26 July 2009 16. King Solomon's Mines (1950) 1 December 2010 17. Knute Rockne All American (1940) 2 November 2010 18. Claire's Knee (1970) 15 August 2009 19. Melody Ranch (1940) 10 November 2010 20. Morning Glory (1933) 19 November 2010 21. Mush and Milk (1933) 17 January 2011 22. New Moon (1940) 3 November 2010 23. Pinocchio (1940) 6 November 2010 24. R2PC: Road to Park City (2000) 19 November 2010 25. Salt (2010) 24 August 2010 26. Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960) 21 January 2011 27. Sunset Blvd. (1950) 1 December 2010 28. The Forgotten Village (1941) 21 January 2011 29. The Great Dictator (1940) 1 November 2010 30. The King's Speech (2010) 19 January 2011 31. The Last Emperor (1987) 20 January 2011 32. The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (1962) 9 January 2011 33. The Man in the White Suit (1951) 5 August 2009 34. The Philadelphia Story (1940) 5 November 2010 35. The Social Network (2010) 19 January 2011 36. The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974) 1 August 2009 37. The Thomas Crown Affair (1999) 14 August 2009 38. The Witchmaker (1969) 21 July 2009 39. Thousands Cheer (1943) 3 December 2010 40. Till the Clouds Roll By (1946) 24 November 2010 41. Wake Up and Live (1937) 27 July 2009 42. Witness for the Prosecution (1957) 1 August 2009

....Tex Allen's email address is [e-mail].

See Tes Allen Movie Credits, Biography, and 2012 photos at WWW.IMDb.Me/TexAllen. See other Tex Allen written movie reviews....almost 100 titles.... at: "http://imdb.com/user/ur15279309/comments" .

The Horrible Life of the Wonderful Leni Riefenstahl.

[brentmnyc · 26 January 2003]

"The Wonderful, Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl" is a documentary film about the german filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl. Known for 'Olympia' and the notorious but no less brilliant 'Triumph of the Will', this woman was persecuted for her work commissioned by the Nazi party and was never allowed to make another film.

'Olympia' is a stunning documentary of the 1936 Olympics and has nothing to do with Hitler or the Nazi party. While making the film, Riefenstahl was a pioneer of angles and camera and filmmaking techniques which forever changed both documentary and feature filmmaking. It should be studied by every film student and lover of photography, both still and moving.

'Triumph of the Will' is an astonishing documentary of the 1934 Party Congress. Of 'Triumph of the Will' she says, "To me the film wasn't about politics. It was an event. I'd have made exactly the same film in Moscow, if the need arose, though I'd prefer not. Or in America, if something similar had taken place there. I shot the subject matter as well as I could and shaped it into a film." She then goes on to deny any participation in the political party and talks about turning down all offers to make any other political movies.

She admits openly that she got swept up in the passion of the early movement, when all the talk was of work (when so many were unemployed), freedom and peace. She was not in the minority: Hitler had the support of 90% of the people at that point. She also says that she did not want to make 'Triumph of the Will', resisting Goebbels' advances and offers, accepting only when Hitler himself asked her to film the event. Hitler's wish was his command and he told her, "I want this film to be made by an artist and not a Party film director." The filmmaker posits, "I feel people are expecting an admission of guilt from you." She replies:

"Well, what do you mean by that? What am I guilty of? I can and do regret making the film of the 1934 Party Congress, 'Triumph of the Will.' I regret...no, I can't regret that I was alive in that period. But no words of anti-semitism ever passed my lips. Nor did I write any. I was never anti-semitic and I never joined the Nazi party. So what am I guilty of? Tell me that. I didn't drop any atom bombs. I didn't denounce anyone. So where does my guilt lie?"

In the end, we see that Riefenstahl was a brilliant filmmaker of the highest order and an extraordinary woman. Her alleged association with the Nazi party completely destroyed her career for the rest of her life and robbed the world of 50 years of potentially brilliant, innovative filmmaking. Whether your interest lies in photography, filmmaking or political or European history, this documentary is not to be missed.

Fascinating

[varietes · 8/10 · 22 August 2002]

I had the opportunity of reading the Riefenstahl's Memories and it seems to me wonderful. She is a incredible and strong woman. A difficult and complicate past have made her one of the most interesting persons in XXth. Fascinating

In-Depth Look at Leni

[haridam0 · 4 October 2006]

She was first and foremost a visual artist. What comes across here is her being duped, along with so many Germans, by the aim of the Nazi party.

Her two most famous documentaries were made under the delusion that the prevailing party had a worth mission. This documentary helps to explain this perspective from Riefenstahl's eyes.

Her true awakening came toward the end of the war, when she saw Hitler not visiting bombed out cities to witness the devastation. The final blow was her visiting the concentration camps and seeing the horror there.

This documentary shows many shots of Leni sharing things from her perspective, and denouncing the Nazi regime.

It goes on to show her film work during the war, followed first by her African trip to Nubian tribes, then to her fascinating under water film work. In all cases, her interest comes across as artistic and apolitical.

This is a most informative documentary on one of cinema's most controversial figures.