After the war, the star director of the Nazi regime, Leni Riefenstahl, tried hard and completely unreasonable to give the public an apolitical, pure image of her work and her life. In his deep and detailed documentary, Andres Veiel (“Beuys”) confronts the lies of Hitler’s propagandist’s life, based on her great legacy.
To do this, Veiel looked through 700 boxes of materials, tape recordings and photographs and spent 18 months editing his documentary masterpiece. In his thoughtful, relatable montage, the director succeeds in developing a political biography of Riefenstahl that raises general questions: Can one evaluate a work independently of its political work? What is the role of artists in society? In doing so, it is up to responsible viewers not to miss the frightening parallels with current fake news manufacturers and totalitarian visions. Leni Riefenstahl provided the chilling representational images of inhuman power that she willingly provided. Today’s autocrats also use this arsenal.
Knut Elstermann
2024-10-30 23:15:00
#Riefenstahl
