MODERN HISTORY: LENI RIEFENSTAHL

MODERN HISTORY: LENI RIEFENSTAHL

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(a) Provide a detailed description of THREE significant events in the life of the personality you have studied.

Three significant events in the life of Lei Riefenstahl were her direction of the `Blue light', her meeting with Hitler in Wilmer shaven and her direction of Triumph of the will.

Before Riefenstahl was a director she had a prominent dancing career that gave her financial independence from her father. After being forced to end her dancing career due to injury, Riefenstahl got into acting. She made her name in the `Berg' films of Arnold Fanck. Fanck was a skilled director who experimented with different types of lenses, camera speeds and introduced innovations such as placing cameras on skis. She learnt a lot from watching Fanck and in 1930s she was becoming interested in `The Blue Light'. `The Blue Light' was the first movie that Riefenstahl starred in, directed, co-produced, and edited. It was a ground-breaking film at the time, filmed on location. Riefenstahl displayed technical excellence in the film, using new types of film such as new form and infra-red. She also made great use of filters to create certain effects. It was particularly important as it brought her to the attention of Hitler who placed this film among his favourites.

On 18 May Riefenstahl wrote Hitler a brief letter requesting a meeting- The Fuhrer received her letter and was keen to meet her, and invited her to meet him in Wilhelmshaven on 21 May 1932. Following her trip to Germany in September 1932, Riefenstahl began to see more of Hitler and other leading Nazis. This led to meeting Goebbels who suggested she make Hitler a film. Throughout the summer of 1933, Riefenstahl steadily ingratiated herself with the influential and the powerful in the new Germany. This would prove to be significant as it would lead to her making of the `Triumph of the Will `and `Olympiad'.

`Triumph of the Will' was produced in 1935 and contains some of the most recognizable images of Hitler and the Nazis. It was an extraordinary piece of filmmaking at the time and was one of the great documentaries of the 20th century. The documentary is a summation of the 1934 Nuremburg rally. The whole thing was produced and orchestrated in advance and was wholly financed by the Nazi party. It was edited to create a logical pattern to convey the mood and rhythm of the events. There is a strong emphasis on the future, new beginning, progress and unity. This was significant to Riefenstahl's career as she pioneered many techniques, which would be taken up by others. This film was also significant to Riefenstahl as it was a clear promotion of the Fuhrer cult, this would prove to be a problem she faced after the war. The German people were presented as a racially cohesive unit, collective of blonde, fair-skinned soldiers, workers, youths, mums and children living in harmony. The film was well received and won the German film prize, the Gold Medal at the Venice Biennale and the Gold Medal at the Paris world's fair.

(b) Assess the contribution of the personality you have studied to their period of national and/or international history.

Leni Riefenstahl had a significant impact in Germany. This was predominantly due to her direction of `Triumph of the Will' and `Olympiad' where she pioneered many film techniques and arguably promoted many ideals of the Nazi party.

Riefenstahl's direction of `The Blue Light' was a groundbreaking film at the time with the introduction of many new types f film such as infrared and sound. This film brought Riefenstahl to the attention of Adolf Hitler, who Riefenstahl met in 1932. Riefenstahl was significant in Germany at the time because of her close relationship with Hitler, which led to Goebbels suggestion that she make Hitler a film. Also, at the time, the Reich film chamber effectively banned Jewish film-workers meaning a

list of talented Jews left Germany and Riefenstahl was one of the few predominant and talented filmmakers in Germany.

`Triumph of the Will' was a directed by Riefenstahl and was extremely significant in showing many of the Nazi ideals of the time. It is believed by many to be Nazi propaganda and is significant in revealing many aspects of Germany from the time. It contains some of the most recognizable images of Hitler and the Nazis and is known to be one of the great documentaries of the 20th century. It is significant in revealing the idea of the fuhrer being here to `save the people'. It reveals idealistic images of Nazi men laughing, shaving and wrestling together, presenting a deliberate sense of camaraderie. As Evans suggests, "it was a propaganda film designed to convince Germany and the world of the power, strength and determination of the German people under Hitler's leadership". Hitler is shown to have brought the people together as there are no classes and an emphasis on the future, a new beginning with growth and unity. The film is also significant as it pioneered many techniques that would be taken up by others. The film used 32 camera operators and a crew of over 100. There was 120 000 meters of film shot, edited down to 3000. Riefenstahl used bridges, ramps, cranes, circular tracks, towers and even an elevator to position cameras in new and interesting ways. The film is significant to Germany at the time as a clear promotion of the Fuhrer cult. It is believed to be a major piece of propaganda with the presentation of Hitler as a special kind of leader leading the country into a great future. It was also important in establishing the legitimacy of the party. The film was well received, it won the German film prize, the Gold Medal at the Venice Biennale and the Gold Medal at the Paris world's fair, therefore making Germany significant on an international level whilst promoting the ideals of the Nazi party nationally. As said by Richard J. Evans, the film was "as much a product of Riefenstahl's own predilections as it was an expression of Nazi ideology".

`Berlin Olympiad' was another significant film directed by Riefenstahl, considered by many to be the greatest sports documentary film ever made. Riefenstahl spent months practicing camera work at sports events all over Germany. Riefenstahl displayed technical expertise and directorial creativity, pioneering many techniques that are still in use today. During the events, pits were dug to view pole-vaulters at exciting angles, cameras were placed on athletes to gain images of speed and facial expressions, tracks were constructed to film and keep up with competitors in athletic events and even a catapult system was built to allow cameras to follow spirit events. Balloons were used to gain aerial shots, swimming events were filmed from rubber dinghies and watertight camera housing allowed underwater filming. The film won the 1938 German film prize, the Golden Lion award and the Sweden's Polar Prize. It was generally well received but not in the US. Critics argued her film was really nothing more than a piece of Nazi propaganda as it promoted the idea of struggle and victory. The film focused strongly on the idealized strength and beauty of the Aryan body and financing came under the control of Goebbel's Propaganda Ministry. Evans comments that the film was "a celebration of human physical prowess that sat easily with both the Olympic ideal and Nazi ideology".

It was believed by many that Riefenstahl was a Nazi or at least a Nazi sympathizer, which led to charges being laid after the war on the basis of her films. In 1949 she was cleared of being a Nazi but was accused of being a `fellow-traveller' or sympathizer. She was shunned by the film industry and her work was dismissed as Nazi propaganda. In the 1950s Riefenstahl began long love affair with Africa, which began a series of projects photographing primitive African tribes people. Riefenstahl's work in Sudan with the Nuba led to a series of books and severe accusations were made against her.

There is much criticism of Riefenstahl, focusing on the nature of her films. It could be argued that if Riefenstahl took pictures of what was happening at Nuremburg and Berlin and presented them without alteration they would be documentaries, however if they were planned and manipulated for maximum effect, Riefenstahl was a propagandist. The government did funding for Olympia and

therefore many argue that Nazi government would not fund such an expensive project unless it created piece of valuable propaganda.

Therefore it is clear that Leni Riefenstahl had a significant contribution in Germany. She had a significant impact in promoting the ideals of the Nazi party and her films were looked at by many as Nazi propaganda. However she also contributed significantly to the German film industry by pioneering many new film techniques, which are still in use today.

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