Product Details

• Actors: Beni Führer, Max Holzboer, Martha Mair, Franz Maldacea, Mathias Wieman
• Directors: Béla Balázs
• Format: Black & White, NTSC
• Language: German, Italian
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Timeless Multimedia
• VHS Release Date: December 1, 1996
• Run Time: 70 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6303695833
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #341,303 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

46 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Top Film - Very Low Quality Transcipt, September 9, 2002

By 

J. N. Valente "jnscav" (Evora, Portugal) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Blue Light [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Leni Riefensthal's beauty is only surpassed by the beautiful use of set and locations (the Italian/Austrian Dolomites eastern region of the alps).
The script is perhaps too complex for the average modern audience, but only if you are forcing them to go back to their Freudian schooling. Otherwise it is the story of a beautiful, if not altogether timeless legend of young men being attracted to their doom (The Blue Light of the title) on full moon nights - when it seems only the outcast Junta (Leni) can achieve it unharmed.
This is one of those 'mountain films' that Germany specialized in. Being shot in 1932 (1 year before the Nazi's ascension to political power) it is also the genre at its purest form. Leni Riefenstahl shines at too many levels to be described at length here. But the whole aura of myth about the outcast does not seem to make of her an ideological artist(not a Nazi one at that in 1932, certainly), it does seem to make her a mastermind in dominating light and shadow.
It is only a pity that this film's superlative cinematography has been so poorly translated into the VHS edition. Hope I'm not being sacrilegious if I recommend the german VHS edition available also at amazon.de
In any case I'm awaiting the DVD possibilities in all countries interested in bringing to Amazing Light this early 1930s exquisite piece of cinema

37 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A magic film by a much misunderstood artist, June 9, 1999

By 

Katjasomi "Katjasomi" (England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Blue Light [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I have been a fan of this film since I first saw it as a young girl in Germany in 1949. Much of its magic lies in the black-and-white medium and the fascinating use of "Gegenlichtaufnahmen" (shots taken against the light). This gives the film a mysterious quality. The film was shot entirely on location and contrary to a lot of stories none of the climbing scenes were staged in a studio nor were any doubles used. Leni Riefenstahl, originally a dancer, was forced to take a break in her career due to injury, and during this spell of inactivity she visited a cinema in Berlin which showed a film by and starring Luis Trenker, a wellknown German mountaineer and film actor. She fell instantly in love with the mountains she had never before visited and on the spur of the moment bought a ticket and went to see Trenker. Subsequently she learned to climb, and all scenes in this film have been climbed by her personally without any climbing aids of any sort. This information is contained in her book "Kampf in Schnee und Eis" which gives her early life story and which I have in my possession.

35 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars For this bad copy one star, but five for the movie, March 11, 2000

By 

Dr. Jekyll (Audubon, Pa. USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Blue Light [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This copy is terrible, I have seen the excellent copies of this film and you can glimpse it on some film history tapes of Europe and on the wonderful terrible life.... Documentary video that is available. Don't buy this it will make you mad because of what has been done to it by timeless video at times the brightness blooms allows you to see nothing! Did timeless intentionally screw this great movie up or is this a bootleg from the thirties. I'm never buying anything from timeless again because of the poor standards of the company save your money wait for the version with great audio and video it's out there,this is junk!