Leni Riefenstahl
by Leni Riefenstahl
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Book Summary Information
Author: Leni RiefenstahlEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1995-01-15
ISBN: 0312119267
Number of pages: 672
Publisher: Picador
Book Reviews of Leni Riefenstahl
Book Review: A Window Into a Grand Twentieth Century Epic Life
Summary: 5 Stars
It took me over a month but I finally finished this
astonishing book. I'm exhausted and staggered by the sheer scope of
this woman's life--it is in fact a story larger than life. By way of
illustration, I recently read the famed and lengthy Carlos Baker
biography of Ernest Hemingway. Let me tell you in no uncertain
terms: Papa was a sissy in comparison to Leni Riefenstahl
(hereafter, LR). This woman displays more grit, tenacity, artistic
vision, dedication, resilience and audacity than a pack of wolves
cross bred with Ayn Rand and some other extreme artist of maniacal
bent, say, Van Gogh. She exemplifies the good and bad potentials for
life in the extreme. Hers is a story of perseverance and survival,
with agony and ecstasy throughout. The movie "The Wonderful,
Horrible Life of LR" could not be more aptly titled. Whew, I'm tongue
tied....this book took me there and back and I need a week off to
recuperate. It's well-written, but you won't read this for the
writing. This is about a life lived to the hilt, decades of painful
adventure, the stuff of legend.
Should you contemplate reading this book, I think you need to make a
decision in advance: Are you going to squander your time primarily
evaluating whether she had knowledge of the genocide of the Jewish
people by Hitler and hisminions?? If sitting as a juror as to facts
almost 60 years old is a particular hobby of yours, go at it. The
fact is, LR was pulled in front of multiple courts, tribunals, and
boards throughout the years and has essentially been acquitted time
and again by people who would have relished convicting her had there
been sufficient evidence. LR denies having knowledge of the
genocidal treatment of the Jewish people. Her denials are very
similar to those made by the balance of the German people who
survived the War and who lived in the same cities and who had similar
contacts with various Nazis, albeit perhaps at the lower social
levels. I personally believe her, as she demonstrates herself
throughout the book to be naive and self-absorbed. Like a lot of
artists, she was preoccupied with her own artistic agenda,
and "politics," political philosophy, and military ambitions were of
no interest to her. Similarly, she gets betrayed and ripped off so
many times by so many different people throughout this book of her
life that it is clear she has no real ability to evaluate people from
a character standpoint. She also seems credible from the stand point
that she describes a Hitler who is, suprisingly, not immediately
hateable. Instead, I was kind of taken aback by what a gentleman he
appeared to be to LR, and how he honored various agreements that he
made with her despite every temptation not to do so. LR's failure to
categorically condemn Hitler seems to accrue to her credibility that
she didn't know his full vicious potentials. (By so denouncing him
she could have staved off some further criticism.) She doesn't,
however, display that kind of deference to Goebbels and many other of
the Nazi bureaucrat/thugs. She describes them exactly as you would
envision them as being. Ugly and scary. In any event, my real point
is that this book is so full of a broad variety of intrigue that you
will miss out should you exclusively focus on this question of her
knowledge of or involvement in the atrocities. Bottom line: I don't
think we will ever know for sure one way or the other.
The true value of this book is the unique view it offers into so many
other varied areas: the history of Germany before, during, after
WWII ; the various people who inhabited Germany during this time;
insights into other great artists, actors, film-makers during the
30's, 40, 50's, 60's; insight into flying ace, Hans Udet; the story
of a person who endured multiple serious health ailments through the
years but went on to live to 100; a woman who experienced the heights
of international success and artistic glory; a woman who experienced
the depths of prejudice and hatred for her earlier affiliations;
tremendous insights into early film-making; great mountaineering and
skiing anecdotes; insights into the Sudan, the characters and tribal
peoples there; insights into the mind and agenda of a great
photographer (inspired, I pulled out my Leica and started shooting
again half way through the book)....on and on it goes. I enjoyed her
anecdotes of meeting Mick Jagger and Bianca, the people at National
Geographic, Andy Warhol, Walt Disney. The sheer number of interesting
events and people which are described is so vast I would have to
tabulate it to give an accurate estimation: she was almost strangled
as a child by a child serial killer; she was in Central America in
the early 70's when a huge hurricane went through and killed 8,000
people. She describes vivid and bizarre "psychic visions" at the
moment of meeting the two loves of her life, both of whom went on to
betray her trust and hopes. And, of course, her precisely described
conversations with Hitler are extremely interesting and of extreme
historical import (she gives almost verbatim descriptions of perhaps
20 or so private conversations with Hitler; she kept journals and had
to testify numerous times about the same, thus her accuracy). She
describes a bizarre meeting with Mussolini which was fraught with
tacit significance as she found herself unwittingly a messenger
between him and Hitler. I also was interested in her friendships
with Albert Speers, Jean Cocteau. Her favorite people over the
course of 90 years?? The Nuba of Sudan, natural, naked, innocent,
generous and playful...and extremely photogenic. That is actually
how I became familiar with LR: I have her Nuba books (reprints) and
they are some of the best examples of photography that I've ever seen-
-believe it or not, National Geographic has never published photos of
tribal peoples as good as these photos. I then discovered her
underwater photo books and was equally astonished. Only later did I
learn this photographer had earlier been a film-maker, with a couple
of flicks called "Triumph of the Will" and "Olympia" to her credit,
ominous milestones in the history
of film-making. I'm looking forward to one day seeing her earlier
masterpiece "The Blue Light" which received international acclaim.
This woman is, in my opinion, one of the great artists and
adventurers of the 20th Century. This book is her story. It is
comfortably written and well translated, albeit filled with a few
more details than I needed (eg, production details from some of
films, and details regarding her countless defamation suits). As the
father of a young daughter, I plan on having her read this book (and
Ayn Rand's "Fountainhead") at as young an age a practicable. LR
displays what I see as enlightened feminism: no bitterness or
complaining about unfair circumstances, just full-on pursuit of her
dreams, going over or through anyone or anything who tries to thwart
her visions, like a locomotive, powered by pure merit and talent and
will power. Trying and failing, and then trying again and succeeding.
LR is hardly perfect, and her life is bittersweet. But she is still
here and her many enemies are mostly dead. And her films and
photographs will live forever. But her ultimate work of art is her
life story itself. She has inspired me with her courage and her
sense of adventure. Hemingway clearly would have wanted to buy her
drinks, and Shackleton likewise would salute.
Summary of Leni Riefenstahl
A New York Times Notable Book of the Year.
One of the century's most remarkable and controversial women, Leni Riefenstahl is an artist of the first order. Dancer, actor, and photographer, she is best known as the director of Triumph of the Will, a film of a Nazi Party rally and Olympia, the classic account of the 1936 Berlin Olympics. It is for these works of cinematic propaganda that Riefenstahl is revered and reviled. In this autobiography, she discusses her motivations, her history, her important friendships, and, most of all, her art. Along with insights into directing and camera work, Riefenstahl offers an emotional, powerful story of a woman who refuses to be defined by any terms other than her own.
One of the century's most remarkable and controversial women, Leni Riefenstahl is an artist of the first order. Dancer, actor, and photographer, she is best known as the director of Triumph of the Will, a film of a Nazi Party rally and Olympia, the classic account of the 1936 Berlin Olympics. It is for these works of cinematic propaganda that Riefenstahl is revered and reviled. In this autobiography, she discusses her motivations, her history, her important friendships, and, most of all, her art. Along with insights into directing and camera work, Riefenstahl offers an emotional, powerful story of a woman who refuses to be defined by any terms other than her own.
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