Intriguing and complex documentary about a female actress and director who was and is considered by many to have been an agent of Hitler's Nazi Regime. The filmmaker Ray Muller delves deep into his subject and promises us a final product achieved with no preconceived notions. He succeeds and forces us, the viewer, to make our own decision. Is Riefenstahl an artist who was simply ignorant of the political world around her? Or is she still, at age 90, lying about her involvement in Nazi Propaganda? 

Muller weaves a rich tapestry and covers almost all of the woman's adult life. No mention is made of her life before her career in films. We learn nothing of her childhood. Her career begins as a dancer and actress who soon makes her way into the films of Arnold Fanck, who seemingly invented the genre of "mountaineering films. These became quite popular in Germany in the 20's and 30's and Riefenstahl appeared in at least 3 which are mentioned here, including "The White Hell of Pitz Palu" (1929). The actress learned much from the director, who filmed on an epic scale, apparently invented several camera and lighting techniques, and filmed outdoor sequences in an almost a documentary style. These would become mainstays of the actress turned director's films as well.

In 1932, after making 4 films with Fanck, Riefenstahl stepped behind the camera herself, although remaining on screen as well, and directed "The Blue Light" ("Das Blaue Licht"). Another mountaineering epic, the film owed much to Fanck. It impressed the new Fuhrer of Germany to such an extent that he asked Riefenstahl to make films for the party.

And, of course, here is where the story gets convoluted. Riefenstahl made a short film for Hitler at a political rally but was highly unhappy with the results. It's disorganized nature did not allow her to be the perfectionist that she was behind the camera. She denounces this short film here, not because of the politics, but because of it's artistic inadequacies. She later made an epic film of the 1934 Nuremberg  Rally, called the 1934 Party Congress here, that became a critically acclaimed documentary entitled  "Triumph of the Will" (Triumph Des Willens"). The film has remained uncirculated for numerous years but we get enough glimpses of it here to see that it is an epic marvel. Riefenstahl was given carte blanche by the Nazi's and utilized over 30 cameramen. She set up a camera in a sort of elevator to film an aerial view. She spent months editing the film. It seems to be a masterpiece and those enamoured with film would surely find much to marvel at in it's viewing. The images are massive and majestic. The beauty in it's fluid camera movement as well as it's masses moving in unison are artistic marvels. It's glorious art in as much Warholian repetition as artistic beauty as it is propaganda.

But later political feelings have made the film a ghost. It is propaganda, one thinks, because it shows the Nazi's and Hitler in such a flattering light. Riefenstahl films Hitler with lighting that make his head seem covered by a halo. He seems to descend upon the citizenry and overtake them. In the end, the massive coordinated movements of the masses and the soldiers seem to imply that all are marching to Hitler's tune. Riefenstahl does admit that she admired  Hitler at this time. And it might be easy to understand and even forgive her for this. Hitler was not truly anti-semitic at this time. She points out that in his speech in the film, he mentions only jobs and progress. She claims there is  nothing hateful in her work. And she is right. If Hitler had, in fact, been a good person and a savior of his nation, the film might be heralded as a masterpiece, political and artistic, even today. One can glean that it is an artistic achievement of the highest caliber from what is seen here.

Determined not to make another political film, Riefenstahl next was commissioned to film the 1936 Olympics. She claims Hitler was not interested in the Olympics. That he wanted to emphasize the "National" and not the "International." She claims he only attended the games after he was prodded by his camp's suggestion that it would inspire his countrymen who were competing to do better. The  question  nags, how would Riefenstahl know this unless she was a close ally to the Fuhrer, something she  vehemently denies.

With "Olympiad" ("Olympia," "Olympische Spiele"), Riefenstahl was again given carte blanche. She had over 30 cameramen at her disposal. She was given aircraft and airships to use as she wished. She dug trenches to film competitors against the skyline and developed an underwater camera to shoot diving and swimming sequences. She sent up a camera in a little balloon to film and put a note in the basket for whoever found the camera to return it to her studio. She filmed miles and miles of footage, some of it  before the events even began. She was given 5 months to train cameramen and shoot footage before the games started. She spent two years in the editing room putting the film together. When it was released in 1938, it was in two sections and ran over 3 and 1/2 hours collectively. Riefenstahl again received accolades from critics and politicians alike. The film was given several prizes around the world. Some of the techniques employed and invented by the director and her crew are still utilized in sports photography today. 

Critics still admire the film's style and technique. Divers are shown against a skyline and the editing even has some of them in reverse motion to continue the aesthetic of the montage. The marathon sequence uses overpowering music to punctuate the sheer willpower of the runners. But detractors still enjoy dismissing the film because it connects all of the athleticism of the competitors, no matter where they are from, to the Greek Olympic ideal. And, at the beginning of the film, the Greek Olympic ideal is connected to the German Nation. Riefenstahl, still involved unofficially with the Nazi party at this time, denies any politics in the film's content. Again, this was still early in Hitler's rise to power. The host nation of the Olympics always install symbols of their Nationalism into the proceedings. Should Riefenstahl be decried for doing the same? Did the numerous swastikas in the film mean the same thing in 1936 and 1938 as they do today?

While she was abroad showing the film, the Nazi stormtroopers became even more fierce in their overpowering and destroying of the Jewish communities in Germany. Riefenstahl could not believe the news reports from home. While abroad, she called the American press liars. When she returned to Germany, she lived far from the cities and began to again shoot a film which she had worked on somewhat before the war called "Tiefland" ("Lowland"). When liberation came, Riefenstahl was arrested and her film confiscated. She was tried, labelled as a "Nazi Sympathizer," and released. It took her almost 10 years to get her film back. She finished it and released it in 1954. Again, it looks like a beautiful film from the scenes we are shown here. Shot in black and white, Riefenstahl claims here that she was trying to promote the preservation of that aesthetic when color photography was overtaking the market. But, alas, this film will not be remembered for it's aesthetic as much as it's politics again. It is  claimed that the director used Gypsies from  concentration camp as extras, since the film has a Mediterranean motif. This documentary says this is so without hesitation and the director alludes to it in her discussion. However, "Bloomsbury's Foreign Film Guide" (1992) says she was cleared of all  charges.

After "Tiefland," Riefenstahl never made another film. She went into virtual exile and spent many years photographing the Nabu tribes in Africa. In the 70's she published highly acclaimed photographs of the tribe. She has also shot miles of film footage on the tribes which remains unreleased, although much of it is seen in this documentary. Again, it is Riefenstahl's perfectionism that kept this from being released. Being a documentator, she could not control her subjects.

And again she was criticized for her work. Many have  said that her images of the tribesmen, many of them who compete wrestling rituals, are images of fascism. Detractors claim that any images so closely associated with the majesty of the human body must be fascist. Riefenstahl, of course, denies this claim.  It indeed seems without foundation.

Perhaps in an attempt to retreat from the human subject altogether, Riefenstahl retreated to filming underwater subjects in the 70's. She had to lie about her age to become one of the oldest divers in history. She met a man many years her junior who became her confidant and together they film underwater extensively. The man, Hans Kettner, films while Riefenstahl takes still photography. She continues to do this in her 90's. Much of their work is shown in the documentary with Kettner receiving a credit for the documentary's underwater photography. 

"The Wonderful Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl" is a massive 3 hour documentary that includes much discussion with it's subject about her art, her politics, her trials and her life. One of the greatest insights comes in it's inclusion of many sequences shot "behind the scenes" during the making of the piece. Riefenstahl tells Muller how to shoot scenes, how to light scenes, where she should stand. She argues violently with him about statements from Goebbel's diary entries. She is full of life and full of energy. There is much to the woman and Muller shows us much of it unflinchingly. Sure, he doesn't ask every question that we may have. And he doesn't answer all the questions we may have. He isn't supposed to. Instead, he does something truly remarkable: He presents the facts and the statements of those involved. Then he lets us make up our own minds about who and what Leni Riefenstahl truly is; Nazi propagandist; myopic, naive and misunderstood artist; or perhaps both.

Notes: Music by Ulrich Bassenge and Wolfgang Neumann.

In German with English subtitles and with English narration.

During the early scenes focusing on Riefenstahl's work as an actress with Fanck, she mentions F.W. Murnau, G.W. Pabst, Fritz Lang, and Marlene Dietrich.

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