Leni Reifenstahl
Submitted by kriscrowe on 06/30/2008 05:21 PM
- Category: History Other
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Leni Reifenstahl
Leni Riefenstahl's Triumph of the Will' has been described as one of the greatest documentary films ever made. To what extent do you agree?
Leni Riefenstahl was born in 1902 in Berlin. She demonstrated great talent as an actor, dancer, director, cinematographer and still photographer, and later went on to become possibly Germany's most famous director. Still active in her 90's, Riefenstahl has been unable to shed the historical contamination that attached to her over half a century ago. Some say that her talent was her tragedy as in 1934, an admirer by the name of Adolf Hitler asked her to film a documentary of his Nazi party's rally in Nuremberg, and the rest is indeed history.
Triumph of the Will' is said to be one of the most effective and powerful films ever made. The footage is so powerful in fact, that it was banned for more than thirty years and Riefenstahl still has a blemished reputation for her involvement in the glorification of the Nazi movement despite the fact that she herself claims not to have supported the movement.
Much of the impact throughout the film is derived from intense iconography. Examples of this include images such as soldiers saluting Hitler, swastikas, and German statues and buildings. Hitler can even be seen at one point with mothers and children in an attempt to represent him as a caring, humane kind of leader. The importance of the Third Reich was emphasised by images of cars, party leaders, and people gathered round to show respect. The overall effect is one of intense glorification and glamorisation of the Nazi party.
The Nuremberg rally involved thousands of people flooding the streets of Germany to show support for Hitler's Nazi movement. Although this is branded a Nazi propaganda video, it is important to emphasise that it is in fact a film of a propaganda subject directed by an allegedly unbiased woman. The result is a fascinating expression of one gifted...
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