The Wonderful, Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl

The Wonderful, Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl
Allen Greenfield

The German documentary "The Wonderful, Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl" is a profoundly unsettling three hours at the movies. At the beginning, a voice-over narration tells us that the movie intends to examine Riefenstahl's unique career "without preconception" -- not an easy task, because her work has always been clouded by her reputation as "Hitler's favorite filmmaker." Riefenstahl, whom Pauline Kael once called "one of the dozen or so creative geniuses who have ever worked in the film medium," directed two undeniably brilliant movies, both of them tainted by the circumstances of their making: "Triumph of the Will" (1935), which records the 1934 Nazi Party Congress at Nuremberg, was commissioned by Hitler himself; "Olympia" (1938), a two-part documentary about the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, was officially commissioned by the International Olympic Committee but was largely -- and lavishly -- funded by the Third Reich's treasury.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uczv0tCdC6o

A film by Ray Müller
Leni Riefenstahl (1902-2003) dancer, actress, photographer, author, propagandist and the most famous female movie director in the world.