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WONDERFUL, HORRIBLE LIFE OF LENI RIEFENSTAHL, THE {DIE MACHT DER BILDER: LENI RIEFENSTAHL} {PART 2 OF 2} (TV)

Summary

Part two of this two-part documentary on the life of German actress and filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl. In this part, Riefenstahl talks about making "Olympia" (1938), the official film of the 1936 Berlin Olympics, which was unofficially funded by Germany's Ministry of Propaganda. She outlines the many revolutionary techniques she and her crew employed; reacts to critics who suggest that the film has a fascist aesthetic that glorifies physical beauty and male strength; claims that Adolf Hitler was completely disinterested in the project due to the ethnically inclusive nature of the Olympics; and discusses the tremendous two-year editing process. She talks about her growing doubts about Hitler after she learned of brutality toward Jews in Germany, and after Hitler's renunciation of modern art in favor of Nazi kitsch. She discusses the filming of "Tiefland," a "neutral" story of class conflict in Spain, the many war-related problems that halted its production, and counters the charge that she used gypsies from a concentration camp as extras. Riefenstahl then talks about her shattered ideals at the end of the war, her interrogation at Dachau by American soldiers, and the trial at which she was found not guilty of any crime, but labeled a Nazi sympathizer. Next, Riefenstahl's later life is covered: the rebirth of her career, after twenty years spent living in a Munich attic with her mother; her photographic work of the Nubian people, with whom she lived for eight months; the ensuing criticism of a perceived fascist aesthetic in these works; her current relationship with companion Horst Kettner, forty years her junior, whom she trained to be her cameraman; and her recent underwater work at age ninety. Finally, director Müller confronts Riefenstahl about her refusal to apologize for her work for the Third Reich. Includes footage from "Olympia," "Tiefland," as well as Riefenstahl and Kettner's Nubian and undersea stills and footage.

(This program is in German, with English subtitles and English voice-over narration.) Cataloging of this program was made possible by Michael Finkelstein and Sue-ann Friedman.

Details

  • NETWORK: Channel 4 (United Kingdom)
  • DATE: June 1, 1993
  • RUNNING TIME: 1:29:21
  • COLOR/B&W: Color
  • CATALOG ID: T:30709
  • GENRE: Public affairs/Documentaries
  • SUBJECT HEADING: International Collection - United Kingdom; Motion picture producers and directors; National socialism and art; Propaganda, German
  • SERIES RUN: Channel 4 (United Kingdom) - TV, 1993
  • COMMERCIALS: N/A

CREDITS

  • Hans-Jürgen Panitz … Producer
  • Jacques de Clercq … Producer
  • Dimitri de Clercq … Producer
  • Waldemar Januszczak … Producer
  • Hans-Peter Kochenrath … Producer
  • Ray Müller … Director, Writer
  • Ulrich Bassenge … Music by
  • Wolfgang Neumann … Music by
  • Adolf Hitler
  • Horst Kettner
  • Guzzi Lantschner
  • Jesse Owens
  • Leni Riefenstahl