Leni: The Life and Work of Leni Riefenstahl

Book Description

The definitive biography of Leni Riefenstahl, the woman best known as “Hitler’s filmmaker,” one of the most fascinating and controversial personalities of the twentieth century. It is the story of huge talent and huger ambition, one that probes the sometimes blurred borders dividing art and beauty from truth and humanity.

Two of Riefenstahl’s films, Olympia and Triumph of the Will, are universally regarded as the greatest and most innovative documentaries ever made, but they are also insidious glorifications of Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich. Now, in this masterful new biography, Steven Bach reveals the truths and lies behind this gifted woman’s lifelong self-vindication as an apolitical artist who claimed she knew nothing of the Holocaust and denied her complicity with the criminal regime she both used and sanctified.

The facts and her actions, many unknown until now, bear chilling witness: her passionate enthusiasm for Hitler from her first reading of Mein Kampf; her involvements with Nazi leaders Joseph Goebbels, Martin Bormann, Albert Speer, and Julius Streicher, who advanced her career, and with Hitler, who personally helped finance it; her role as silent eyewitness to wartime atrocities against Jews; and her use of slave labor in the form of concentration camp Gypsies destined for Auschwitz. We see her after the war trying to sell footage to Hollywood under an alias, manipulating a sham “discovery” of the Nuba tribes of Sudan into a career comeback, fighting to disinherit her closest living relatives, and—to the end—unable to express remorse for the millions murdered by the Nazi regime made mythic by her work.

Relying on new sources—including interviews with her colleagues and intimate friends, as well as on previously unknown recordings of Riefenstahl herself—Bach gives us an exceptional work of historical investigation that untangles the past and is also an objective but unsparing appraisal of a woman of spectacular gifts corrupted by ruthless personal ambition.

Customer Reviews:

Good Intro to Leni .......2007-08-29

After reading Jurgen Trimborn's admirable but somewhat inaccessible biography of Riefenstahl, I sought out this book in hopes that it would be friendlier to a Riefenstahl novice such as me. It certainly is an easier read and a much better starting place.

Steven Bach, of Final Cut fame, writes from the standpoint of a motion picture enthusiast. He also has a POV where Riefenstahl's Nazi associations are concerned and he doesn't hide it. For Bach Riefenstahl is the living version of Klaus Mann's Mephisto, a careerist willing to do anything and associate with anyone to advance her "art." He also makes the case (clearly building on Trimborn's work, among others) that Riefenstahl not only had no problem with anything Hitler did or said, she likely agreed with most if not all of it.

Bach's style is that of a gossipy Hollywood bio, which is fine by me, but he's no fan magazine hack. He knows the power of the snide observation and, best of all, how damning Leni's own words were. At times Riefenstahl comes across as downright delusional about her artistic abilities and men's lust for her. To hear her tell it no man so much as entered the same zipcode as Leni Riefenstahl without falling madly in love with her.

Some may have disagreements about Bach's assessment of Riefenstahl's artistic contributions. I've only seen clips of her work so my own opinion is somewhat limited. Bach does make a good case the Riefenstahl either stole the ideas of others or took credit for their work. Bach doesn't buy the argument that the art is more important than the character or actions of the artist. He also doesn't buy that Riefenstahl was much of an artist.

This is no love letter to Leni. It is an entertaining read. Gossipy, slightly bitchy (as one reviewer here has aptly noted), and full of telling details and quotes, this is a easy entry into the myths and controversy that make up Leni Riefenstahl.

Brilliant But Petty and Cruel -- Oh, Wait, That's The Author! .......2007-08-26

Not since Albert Goldman's ELVIS has a dense, full length biography of a sexy, glamorous larger than life legend been written with such sadistic relish, such delicious malicious bitchery and pure venomous guile.

There's no question that Leni Riefenstahl, the stunningly beautiful German woman who made hypnotic propaganda films for the Nazis, was guilty of moral cowardice and hypocrisy, if not during the war, then certainly afterwards. She persisted to the end of her life in wanting to have it both ways -- saying in effect "I didn't know," and at the same time "I was too scared to stop Hitler -- too scared that I would be next." She claimed to have legions of Jewish friends before the war, but she never tried to help them when things got bad, even though she had lots of Nazi influence and power. And she always seemed weirdly out of touch with the human results of Hitler's evil deeds.

The problem is, Steve Bach doesn't know when to quit. He sneers at Leni Riefenstahl not just for the big things -- not strangling Hitler with her bare hands, the way he seems to imagine he would have done -- but for the little things too. The book is full of catty little remarks like, "Leni was always conscious of her hypnotic effect on men" or "Leni didn't mind having handsome, powerful men buy her presents" or "Leni's fearless mountain climbing only made her feminine allure more overpowering to the distinguished male cinema artists who indulged her every creative whim."

It's hard to tell whether Bach hates Leni for being heartless and callous or for being beautiful, talented -- and very knowingly seductive.

There is a much more serious issue here than the hissy ALL ABOUT EVE style bitchery of a jaded Hollywood insider. Bach insists on judging a German film maker by a far more rigorous standard than he would ever apply to the film industry in Hollywood today -- or seventy years ago, for that matter. When Leni goes to Hollywood he brags that the left-leaning Hollywood of 1938 treated the lovely German visitor with scorn -- but how did they treat Margaret Mitchell when she came to town the very next year? Bach has nothing to say about why those same "leftists" failed to prevent the making of a racist epic like GONE WITH THE WIND.

If Leni Riefenstahl shares any part of the guilt for Auschwitz -- and I agree that she does -- then David O. Selznick is equally responsible for the murder of Emmitt Till, the bombings in Birmingham, and all the other hate crimes perpetrated in the Jim Crow south. Bach is in a big hurry to compare Leni to the Stalinist film maker Eisenstein -- arguing in a feeble and half-hearted way that Eisenstein "probably" rebelled at what he was doing. But why not compare Leni Riefenstahl to D.W. Griffiths, or Margaret Mitchell, or David Selznick? All of them dealt in racial hate. They looked the other way while helpless people were tortured and murdered, too. But mentioning America's poisonous history of racial hate would reflect badly on Bach's own milieu. Bach's beloved Hollywood elite never questioned the racial status quo in the Jim Crow south -- at least, not until long after blacks had begun risking their lives to bring the horror of their situation to national attention.

What's really going on here is not genuine, humanistic outrage, but elitist hypocrisy. Bach hates Leni Riefenstahl because he knows that, for all their tiresome liberal cant, just about everyone in Hollywood (and the book world, and the world of leftist Manhattan politics) has the same rat-like survival instincts that Leni had. None of the liberals who demonstrate their courage by hating her guts now ever had to look Hitler in the eye. But they know who would have blinked first. And they know themselves too well to ever show mercy to someone just like them.

Double standard.......2007-08-22

Most of the facts and "facts" in this book cannot be disputed. Only one comment - there were many other people who "cooperated" with the Nazis, but who escape any oprobrium, Richard Strauss name comes to mind. In 1938 he composed "Festliches Praeludium" for the occassion of NSDAP Parteitag, he was the president of Reichsmusikkammer, directly working for Goebbels, he never lifted a finger to help his Jewish friends, etc. etc. Maybe Richard Strauss could be another topic for Steven Bach to delve into.

Good book but, a little too long.......2007-08-11

This was a very good book but, I think Bach gives us too much detail on Leni's life after WWII. I thought the book could have ended much sooner than it did. After all, did we really have to hear about Leni's search for a particular tribe in Africa? It would have suited me fine to hear about her various means of defending herself from various charges as a result of her association with Hitler and the Nazis. I don't see what benefit the inclusion of the African tribe info was to the reader. Still an interesting read.

Leni survives all.......2007-06-14

The author tries and fails to give an evenhanded account of this much reviled woman's life. All this proves once again that the winners write the history. In the meantime he does portray a fascinating and beautiful woman as the opportunist she was without detracting from her worth as a great artist. All in all the best effort so far reflecting an eventful life.

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Not a starting point
Interesting Part of German History
TRIUMPH OF THE WILL
An Illuminating If Rather Dry Look at Riefenstahl's Accountability in the Nazi Cause
Not so much a "life" as an agenda

Leni Riefenstahl: A Life
Jurgen Trimborn
Manufacturer: Faber & Faber
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0374184933
Release Date: 2007-01-23

Book Description

Dancer, actress, mountaineer, and director Leni Riefenstahl’s uncompromising will and audacious talent for self-promotion appeared unmatched—until 1932, when she introduced herself to her future protector and patron: Adolf Hitler. Known internationally for two of the films she made for him, Triumph of the Will and Olympia, Riefenstahl’s demanding and obsessive style introduced unusual angles, new approaches to tracking shots, and highly symbolic montages. Despite her lifelong claim to be an apolitical artist, Riefenstahl’s monumental and nationalistic vision of Germany’s traditions and landscape served to idealize the cause of one of the world’s most violent and racist regimes.

Riefenstahl ardently cast herself as a passionate young director who caved to the pressure to serve an all-powerful Führer, so focused on reinventing the cinema that she didn’t recognize the goals of the Third Reich until too late. Jürgen Trimborn’s revelatory biography celebrates this charismatic and adventurous woman who lived to 101, while also taking on the myths surrounding her. With refreshing distance and detailed research, Trimborn presents the story of a stubborn and intimidating filmmaker who refused to be held accountable for her role in the Holocaust but continued to inspire countless photographers and filmmakers with her artistry.

Customer Reviews:

Not a starting point.......2007-06-06

I'm in complete agreement with reviewer M. Richie on this one. Trimborn's book is well-researched and his conclusions are supported but this is not the place for the novice to start. The writer appears to assume the reader already knows Riefenstahl's basic life story, her claims and the allegations against her. He sets about addressing the claims and allegations one at a time, consequently this biography is not in chronological order. If, like me, you know only the bare bones of Riefenstahl's story, this can get confusing. It doesn't lend itself to narrative drive, either.

If I'd read another biography of Riefenstahl first, I'd probably find this book a good next step but as a first step it left alot of gaps. Still, Trimborn demolishes Riefenstahl's claims that she was "apolitical" and provides details about the making of her landmark films. This is a worthy addition to the field, just not a place to start.

Interesting Part of German History.......2007-05-09

The author has made a credible job of getting to the real history about who Leni Riefenstahl really was as an artist and a person, rather than the idealistic view that Leni Riefenstahl herself tried to sell to the general public after WWII. The book describes both the good side of Leni Riefenstahl as an exceptional and inventive artist, but also her ugly side in how she sacrificed other people and probably her own conscience in order to reach the top.

TRIUMPH OF THE WILL.......2007-03-21

Amazon should be congratulated for having these books. With the rise of Anti Semitism, its important to be able to argue with historical facts and data.

congratulations amazon

Also as a fan of classical photography, this book contains some wonderful photo's and help with Techniques.

An Illuminating If Rather Dry Look at Riefenstahl's Accountability in the Nazi Cause.......2007-02-19

The infamous filmmaker of the Third Reich, Leni Riefenstahl, continues to fascinate even after her death at age 101 in 2003, as this biography by German film historian Jürgen Trimborn is one of two coming out this spring documenting her controversial life and career. Trimborn has the advantage of having conducted several interviews with Riefenstahl over the latter part of her career and consequently provides an intriguing perspective on a woman who was preoccupied with sustaining her image as a purely artistic and objective observer of the world around her, including Hitler's encroaching regime. Trimborn dismantles many of her the myths that Riefenstahl took pains to develop over her lifetime, most surprisingly how she allegedly pursued Hitler aggressively after meeting him in May 1932.

A supreme opportunist, Riefenstahl carved her role as the Third Reich's propagandist with the specific intent of encouraging the unabated spread of Fascism to bolster her career. Her legendary vitality was clear from the outset, beginning as an interpretive dancer and then an actress in a series of mountaineering films popular in the Weimar at the time. She turned her attentions behind the camera, which culminated into her two masterful documentaries - `"Triumph of the Will" about the 1934 Nuremberg rallies and "Olympia" about the 1936 Berlin Olympics. While the ethical nature of Riefenstahl's participation in the Nazi cause does not diminish her great talent, Trimborn conversely shows the reverse to be true as well, as he concludes without hesitation what a world-class liar she was.

Her latent anti-Semitism and awareness of the ongoing genocide are well documented here as an intrinsic part of her self-delusion regarding the atrocities committed for the sake of maintaining Aryan supremacy. After Germany's defeat in WWII, the author effectively shows a woman with a heightened need for self-exoneration, filing over fifty lawsuits to clear her name of any wrongdoing. There is no doubt that Riefenstahl was had a survival instinct as she reinvented herself later as a nature photographer studying the Nuba tribes in Sudan in the 1970's and at age 100, publishing a photo book of undersea life made possible by her adept scuba diving skills. Although he can write a bit more clinically than his dimensional subject warrants, Trimborn provides an illuminating portrait of a vastly prodigious creator whose dedication to her own legacy blinded her to the human toll over which she had indirect accountability.

Not so much a "life" as an agenda.......2007-02-16

This is the first book I've read about the notorious director, but I will need to read another one to truly get a full sense of her life and work. This author seems to assume that we have already read a fuller account of her life and instead spends the bulk of his pages refuting her own statements about herself, mostly from what seems to have been the blanket of lies and evasions that her published memoirs were. Despite a chapter list that implies chronological order, he often jumps back and forth a bit confusingly. He does very little fruitful discussion of her work, and if I hadn't already seen Triumph of the Will and some of Olympiad, I would have no sense of why these films remain important and controversial works. I wasn't looking for a book whose primary goal was either to damn her or rehabilitate her, though of course with a subject as controversial as Riefenstahl any author will eventually have a point of view on her. But to get to that point, the book should present a clear view of her life, career, and works, and though Trimborn's book does have its interesting sections, it's not a satisfying biography for readers who don't already know quite a bit about her.

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Man as Athlete: Leni Captures the Olympic's Hellenic Spirit
Your coffee table is naked without this book!
"Olympia" shows the outstanding beauty of mankind!

Olympia
Leni Riefenstahl
Manufacturer: St Martins Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0312113714

Amazon.com

Leni Riefenstahl was an incredibly gifted filmmaker, regardless of her politics. Fortunately, politics didn't obscure the perfection of the film "Olympia", made at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, from which these stark, beautiful black-and-white photographs were made. Riefenstahl pioneered innovative camera angles and techniques in order to create a strong vision of the Olympics. She presents athletes as artists -- practitioners of the art of sport. Through her lens, we view the epitome of the beauty of athleticism, the excitement of competition, and the zenith of human idealism. Very highly recommended.

Customer Reviews:

Man as Athlete: Leni Captures the Olympic's Hellenic Spirit.......2002-07-23

In the 1937 preface to the first edition of this book, Leni Riefenstahl remarked 'it is the timeless document of a great idea -- a hymn to beauty and competetive endeavour.' Sixty-five years later, the graceful images of athletes competing in the 1936 Berlin games has more than withstood the test of time and validated Riefenstahl's original estimation of this work's ground-breaking importance, not only as a document, but as an exercise in the aesthetics of the idealised beauty of the human body in movement.

Leni Riefenstahl was something of a Renaissance woman: Photographer, motion picture director, editor, dancer, skier, and all-around athlete, no one could have been a better match for documenting the 1936 Olympics on film, from which stills were culled to create this volume. True to the spirit of Ancient Greece, it is fitting that it was captured on silver nitrate by this gifted cinematographer christened Helene (her birth name, for which 'Leni' is a German nickname).

Actually, the term 'stills' does injustice to the photographs contained with -- so alive are they, capturing the essence of athleticism and motive power.

The beginning of the book is devoted to Ancient Greece, and documenting the ruins which monumentalise her greatness: The Parthenon, Myron's discus thrower, the gods, such as Apollo and Achilles. Riefenstahl has brought many of the famous statues of athletes alive, as she photographs naked men and women engaged in the ancient sports, such as the javelin throw, the shot put, eurythmics, dance and the discus throw. Her athletes epitomise the grace, sensuousness and taut, muscular efficiency of the male and female bodies.

Another striking sequence is of the young Greek torch bearer, who ignites the torch at Athens and delivers it on his long route through Thermopaylae, the Grecian shore, Delphi and Corinth. The poise and determination in the runner's body and eyes convey the Olympic spirit with the same glowing certitude as the eternal flame, which the runner holds aloft like a beacon in the night.

Once in Berlin, the bulk of this volume is dedicated to the athletes themselves. Leni's cameramen captured all the events, and some of the images are just astounding for their sense of motion and eloquent simplicity of composition. Among my favourites are: p. 60, the Flame from Greece, which shows a German youth standing before the crowd of athletes, holding the flame erect before lighting the stadium torch; p.62, Start of the 80 meter hurdles, as seen from the timekeeper's point-of-view, the lines demarcating the oval track's lanes sweep into a bird's eye view of the pensive hurdlers as they await the starter's gun; p. 68, Jesse Owens in the starting blocks, the great athlete is the very embodiment of concentration; pp. 98, 99, German Gisela Mauermayer, discus thrower, shows the female athlete in motion, and in joyous release on her way to the gold medal; p. 137, shadows of marathon runners, which convey the fleeting rush of the events; p. 247, finale, which shows the Berlin Olympicstadion encircled by pillars of searchlights just before the flame is extinguished.

'Olympia' is, to me, the greatest expression of graceful motion ever captured by a photographer. A tone poem for camera, these images better convey the concept of motion than 99% of the movies today, which are motion pictures in name only.

Your coffee table is naked without this book!.......2002-05-14

The glorious work of Leni Riefenstahl (admit it: love her or hate her, she is incredibly gifted as a photographic artist!!) is shown off on the printed pages of this impressive edition. Fans of her films will love it...sports fans will love it...anyone impressed by the beauty of the human form will love it. You must fall into at least one of those categories, eh? A treasure for your library!

"Olympia" shows the outstanding beauty of mankind!.......1999-02-11

I read "Olympia", so to speak, with greatest pleasure--for this is really a picture-book of the most exquisite kind and, like the best of them, one that can be enjoyed by adults as well as children. It is made of stills from the film "Olympia" directed by the German woman Helene (Leni) Riefenstahl, which is of course about the 1936 Berlin Olympiad. As well as being a filmaker, Leni was a dancer, mountaineer, skier, and actress, all of which gave her a great understanding of the primary subject-matter shown in "Olympia"--the art of the moving human body. Though this artist has been much slandered by many a critic, her film is a festival of beauty and nations, lauding the aesthetics, athletics, and daring of mankind no matter the race, religion, or creed. I have seen the film, and can attest that this book gives a fine and thorough overview thereof, doing justice not only to one of the finest films ever made, but also to art, life, and humanity

Leni Riefenstahl: Five Lives (Photobook)

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A Superb Photographic Tribute to a Remarkable Woman
Hollywood couldn't invent it
Hollywood couldn't invent it
Gorgeous book--a must have!
You can tell a book by its cover

Leni Riefenstahl: Five Lives (Photobook)

Manufacturer: Taschen
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 3822862169

Amazon.com

Leni Riefenstahl: Five Lives traces the fascinating and controversial life and work of the famous German photographer-filmmaker. Riefenstahl started her creative career as an aspiring dancer in the 1920s in Germany and then became a movie actress. She starred in a number of films, taking challenging roles that were sometimes dangerous and physically rigorous, such as the ice-bound and skiing roles in Storm over Mont Blanc, The White Flame, and SOS Iceberg. These outdoor films foretold the spirit of adventure that later guided Riefenstahl's photography career.

The crux of controversy that overshadows Riefenstahl's career is her handpicked appointment by Adolf Hitler to direct the infamous Nazi party rally film Triumph of the Will. Although, according to her memoirs, Riefenstahl tried to withdraw from the film, she created a work that depicted Hitler's plane descending from the clouds as if it carried a god, and she has been accused "of having significantly increased, by means of this film, the emotional bond of the Germans to Hitler." Riefenstahl then went on to direct the German film Olympia covering the 1936 Olympics. With WWII came great change and Riefenstahl's eventual imprisonment by the French. In her later years, she continued her photography career by documenting her trips to Africa and getting her scuba license in her 70s. Her close-up underwater pictures of sea life float like a dream in vivid color. For as damning as her association with the Nazis is, Riefenstahl is a complex and talented artist. This book is full of remarkable images of her acting and directorial career as well as her still photography, and it includes a detailed biography of her life and career--complete with family and personal pictures. --J.P. Cohen

Customer Reviews:

A Superb Photographic Tribute to a Remarkable Woman.......2004-04-05

How different would Leni Riefenstahl's life have been had she not filmed Triumph of the Will? One can only speculate what films she would have directed and starred in after World War II were it not for Hitler insisting she do the film.

Riefenstahl has been referred to as a Renaissance woman, and she most certainly was. She was a creative being and expressed her creativity in dance, acting, directing, photography and ocean diving. These five areas, spanning her entire long life, are the subject of this sumptuous coffee table book.

Editor Taschen Angelica is to be commended on compiling this life-work on Riefenstahl while Leni was still alive to assist in the selection and arrangement of the photographs. The segment on the mountain films is worth the price of the book alone, but the color images of the Nuba are also amazing.

Riefenstahl's revenge against those who denied her her cinematic craft after World War II was being able to live to 101, and seeing her life-long accomplishments compliled into this book. Rumor has it Jody Foster is at work on a film project about Riefenstahl. One hopes Foster will get it right and cover her entire life, not just the years that caused so much controversy.

Hollywood couldn't invent it.......2002-06-29

A biography in pictures of arguably the most influential female film-maker in the history of the medium...though all too many people in the industry are afraid to admit to it. Made the greatest propaganda film in history (unfortunate choice of subject matter) and the most important and influential sports documentary of all time (Olympia). Dancer, actress, director, producer, still photographer, underwater cinematographer...an astounding list of accomplishments driven by a desire to perceive and record the world around her has compelled Leni Riefenstahl since the beginning of the twentieth century.
Oversized, handsomely produced volume (typical Taschen quality) is packed with rare photographs and fascinating commentary. Note: sparkle in eyes of 19-year old dancer and 99-year old legend is exactly the same.

Hollywood couldn't invent it.......2002-06-29

Gorgeous book--a must have!.......2002-05-14

As gifted as she is controversial, Leni Riefenstahl's "five" lives are imminently fascinating as this impressive book will prove! Even to the uninformed or casual observer, this edition will entrance. A great addition to your library, especially if you are impressed by the 102 year old dynamo who continues to prove filmmaking and photography as an art form. A living testament to the fact that "bodies in motion, stay in motion!"

You can tell a book by its cover.......2002-03-18

The striking front cover on this book is a publicity still as Junta, in the movie "The Blue Light" 1932. As impressive as the cover is, it gets better when you open it to reveal hundreds of artistically shot photos. Dr. Ruth says bigger is not necessarily better. However in this case it is; something about the size of the photographs add to their striking appearance. Most are in grainy black and white with some color sections. This book is just a wee to large to fit in my oversized bookshelf. So I am making a larger shelf to display the books front view.

Just as you assume that this is a great coffee table book you will find that there is more too it. Luckily the pictures are not cluttered or distracted by alpha pneumonics. All the descriptions are in a separate section. The title of the book is appropriate as it portray s the different vocations of Leni. (Dancer, Actress, Director, Photographer, Diver)

Book Description

Provided with access to Riefenstahl's personal archives and film collection, the author examines Riefenstahl's films from her beginnings as an actress through the Third Reich.

Customer Reviews:

Hinton's Book a Hit.......2001-02-16

Dr. Hinton's third rewrite of the history of this incredibly talented woman, detalining her enormous contribution to 20th Century film making. Her detractors, and there are still many non-believers who work so hard to destroy her reputation, will be hard pressed to find fault in Dr. Hinton's work. Now, at age 99, Leni continues her life's work, now focusing on underwater still photography, with the same enthusiasm and unbridled passion that she brought to cinima.

More Riefenstahl revisionism.......2001-02-08

In its third edition or printing, Hinton's book obviously has an audience. I wonder if it is largely an academic audience suggesting that young Americans are still being exposed to Riefenstahl's work as a filmmaker and to an increasingly revisionist view of that work as dedicated to beauty and not at all bound up in politics. Most especially, this work, according to Hinton and to Riefenstahl whom he greatly admires, has nothing to do with Hitler and Nazis. Hinton takes issue with both Kracauer and Sontag whose treatments of the filmmaker he views as unjustifiably placing her in the ranks of those who knowingly and willingly served the Nazi regime as propagandists. The eternal return of Riefenstahl and the arguments that swirl around her work and her person continues to be a fascinating if alarming component of our culture. Whether she is or isn't implicated as an apologist for fascism is perhaps less important than the fact that she and her works have become inextricably bound up with controversies about Nazi cinema and its afterlife, as Eric Rentschler refers to it in the subtitle of his book, The Ministry of Illusion. Hinton, as an apologist for Riefenstahl, will give little satisfaction to readers who want to know something about those controversies. The book offers a rather naive understanding of the components of German fascist ideology and aesthetics and their historical backgrounds while remaining stubbornly lavish in its praise of the filmaker and her films. Hinton's book will please those who want to believe that art and politics, even in the Third Reich and its various afterlives are completely separate matters. It will also irritate those who are unwilling to believe in such a separation generally and especially in the case of this still living filmmaker whose work is indelibly connected with the propaganda of the Nazi Party.

Obcessive and compulsive in hot pursuit of the last Valkyrie.......2000-06-12

This is Dr. Hinton's third rewrite of the divine Leni and her films. Each time he aquires a bit more information from his research and other bits and pieces from a personal friendship which now spans 30 years and will continue until his death--since Ms. Rienfenstahl has declared herself immortal and God is taking her at her word. This book is a solid piece of film history and worth reading to gain a perspective about this remarkable woman and her contribution to 20th Century film.

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A Portrait of Leni Riefenstahl
Audrey Salkeld
Manufacturer: Random House UK
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0712673385
Release Date: 1997-11-18

Book Description

Leni Riefenstahl, who died in 2003, will always be remembered for her film of the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin. After the war, Riefenstahl was shunned by the film industry both in Europe and America, despite a 1952 court ruling proclaiming her not guilty of supporting the Nazis in a punishable way. Winner of the Boardman Tasker Award, this is a fine and balanced study of a still-controversial figure.

Leni Riefenstahl: The Seduction of Genius (Propaganda Studies in Modern Political Communication)

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leni's refusal to admit guilt was off-putting
Two Sides to Every Coin

Leni Riefenstahl: The Seduction of Genius (Propaganda Studies in Modern Political Communication)
Rainer Rother
Manufacturer: Continuum International Publishing Group
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0826461018

Book Description

Leni Riefenstahl, aged 100 in 2002, achieved fame as a dancer, actress, photographer, and director, but her entire career is colored by her association with the Nazi party. This overt tension between the political meaning of her work for National Socialism and its essential aesthetic quality forms the basis of this compelling account. Appointed by Hitler, Leni Riefensthal directed the Nazi propaganda film Triumph des Willens along with her best-known work Olympia, a documentary of the 1936 Berlin Olympics. By 1939 Riefenstahl was arguably the most famous woman film director in the world, yet after World War II, she was never again accepted as a filmmaker.

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leni's refusal to admit guilt was off-putting.......2005-04-12

im not sure what the other reviewer is talking about. i thought this to be the most even-handed assessment of riefenstahl that i've yet read. not only that, but rother addresses most other commentaries on reifenstahl, so that this work can work also as a sort of bibliography for those who wish to read further. rother pretty much says that riefenstahl got a raw deal compared to other propaganda directors (mr. jud suess), but that she still deserved much of what she got. essentially (and, no, i don't view this as a "plot-spoiler"), says rother, riefenstahl was apolitical but still guilty (or, perhaps, guilty because she was too apolitical, that is, ambivilant enough to let the nazis use her (and i use the word "use" here loosely)). of course, rother goes much deeper into this, even broaching (but not always delving into) such topics as: is objectivity possible in documentary?, was leni an auteur, and thus not responsible for her artistic portrayals of nazis?
please understand that i'm rating this a 4, as in, this is four stars for books of this type, as opposed to, this is 4 stars in general for all categories. also, im trying to cancel out the other reviewer who must be some kind of uber leni fan.

Two Sides to Every Coin.......2002-12-11

The author, in spite of all his Leni-bashing, must be something of an admirer of the great filmmaker or he wouldn't have so passionately researched her life and career. Riefenstahl and her work have always, since WW2, generated a love/hate response from her audiences and this author makes his case for the latter. While there is nothing particularly enlightening about his findings or opinions, it is always interesting to read more about the fascinating century Ms. Riefenstahl has witness and affected with her art and strong personality.

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Leni Captures the Olympics' Hellenic Spirit

Riefenstahl Olympia
Leni Riefenstahl
Manufacturer: Taschen
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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