Films with heavy emphasis on mountaineering are not usually my thing, but there are ones that are very well done and are far more interesting than they sound. The four films Leni Riefenstahl as leading lady made with director Arnold Fanck ('The Holy Mountain', 'The Great Leap', 'The White Hell of Pitz Palu', 'Storm Over Mont Blanc') centered around this subject are variable quality-wise but have interest value. So expectations were high for Riefenstahl's directing debut, which she also stars in, 'The Blue Light'.
Those high expectations were on the most part met which made me happy. 'The Blue Light' is not quite a masterpiece, but it sure is evidence that Riefenstahl could direct like the strongest of storms and has so many brilliant things, those that are not too keen on the subject usually should find much to admire here being one of those people myself. It is not so exceptional when it comes to some of the pace and story, but from a directing and visual perspective 'The Blue Light' is masterful. So a very good film that just falls short of being the great one it was this close to being.
As said, the story is one of 'The Blue Light's' weaker points. It is very slight and at times a bit too simple and the early portions especially are very thinly plotted.
Which did make some of the pace on the sluggish side. Other than the lead character, the character writing could have been meatier.
However, everything else is exceptionally done. Will agree with everyone though that the sound version is significantly better than the rather primitive silent one. 'The Blue Light' has a score that has a nice atmosphere and isn't overused or too melodramatic while still having emotional impact. It is thoughtfully scripted too, and it was a good move to not having a lot of dialogue, which helped make the tense yet poetic atmosphere really resonate and not make one worry about over-wordiness like some early sound films did.
Even if the story isn't perfect, it does have the right amount of tension when necessary and there were also parts that came over as quite poignant. The acting is fine, with Riefenstahl typically luminous and affecting and one cares for her character's plight. She fares even better though here in the director's chair, which has a lot of stylised beauty and has a lot of confidence. This did not feel like a directorial debut, this was the quality of somebody who had been in the business for years. Even better than Riefenstahl's direction is the exceptional quality of the production values. The scenery has a lot of atmosphere and really captures the eye but the star visually is the cinemaphotography, some of the most visually gorgeous of any early sound film.
Overall, very good and almost great. 8/10
Those high expectations were on the most part met which made me happy. 'The Blue Light' is not quite a masterpiece, but it sure is evidence that Riefenstahl could direct like the strongest of storms and has so many brilliant things, those that are not too keen on the subject usually should find much to admire here being one of those people myself. It is not so exceptional when it comes to some of the pace and story, but from a directing and visual perspective 'The Blue Light' is masterful. So a very good film that just falls short of being the great one it was this close to being.
As said, the story is one of 'The Blue Light's' weaker points. It is very slight and at times a bit too simple and the early portions especially are very thinly plotted.
Which did make some of the pace on the sluggish side. Other than the lead character, the character writing could have been meatier.
However, everything else is exceptionally done. Will agree with everyone though that the sound version is significantly better than the rather primitive silent one. 'The Blue Light' has a score that has a nice atmosphere and isn't overused or too melodramatic while still having emotional impact. It is thoughtfully scripted too, and it was a good move to not having a lot of dialogue, which helped make the tense yet poetic atmosphere really resonate and not make one worry about over-wordiness like some early sound films did.
Even if the story isn't perfect, it does have the right amount of tension when necessary and there were also parts that came over as quite poignant. The acting is fine, with Riefenstahl typically luminous and affecting and one cares for her character's plight. She fares even better though here in the director's chair, which has a lot of stylised beauty and has a lot of confidence. This did not feel like a directorial debut, this was the quality of somebody who had been in the business for years. Even better than Riefenstahl's direction is the exceptional quality of the production values. The scenery has a lot of atmosphere and really captures the eye but the star visually is the cinemaphotography, some of the most visually gorgeous of any early sound film.
Overall, very good and almost great. 8/10