Customer Reviews

Leni Riefenstahl: The Seduction of Genius (Propaganda! Studies in Modern Political Communication)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

im not sure what the other reviewer is talking about. i thought this to be the most even-handed assessment of riefenstahl that i've yet read. not only that, but rother addresses most other commentaries on reifenstahl, so that this work can work also as a sort of bibliography for those who wish to read further. rother pretty much says that riefenstahl got a raw deal compared to other propaganda directors (mr. jud suess), but that she still deserved much of what she got. essentially (and, no, i don't view this as a "plot-spoiler"), says rother, riefenstahl was apolitical but still guilty (or, perhaps, guilty because she was too apolitical, that is, ambivilant enough to let the nazis use her (and i use the word "use" here loosely)). of course, rother goes much deeper into this, even broaching (but not always delving into) such topics as: is objectivity possible in documentary?, was leni an auteur, and thus not responsible for her artistic portrayals of nazis?
please understand that i'm rating this a 4, as in, this is four stars for books of this type, as opposed to, this is 4 stars in general for all categories. also, im trying to cancel out the other reviewer who must be some kind of uber leni fan.

Leni Riefenstahl was an important film maker with a strong will. At the same time she was a person who admired Adolf Hitler and never distanced herself from the nazi-period in a serious way. Not because she was a nazi, because she wasn't, but because here view on life was that Leni could not have been wrong. After the war, through the years she insulted war victims more than once, not out of viciousness, but out of an insensibility that borders on stupidity. Would she have been prepared to look seriously into her own past, everyone would have forgiven her for her mistakes during the Hitler-period.
Rainer Rother is a first class German film scholar who obviously made a meticulous study of the work of and the documents on Leni Riefenstahl. His book is not a biography but an essay in which he concentrates on the main issues concerning her life and work. He looks at her positive en negative sides in an understanding and balanced way.

The author, in spite of all his Leni-bashing, must be something of an admirer of the great filmmaker or he wouldn't have so passionately researched her life and career. Riefenstahl and her work have always, since WW2, generated a love/hate response from her audiences and this author makes his case for the latter. While there is nothing particularly enlightening about his findings or opinions, it is always interesting to read more about the fascinating century Ms. Riefenstahl has witness and affected with her art and strong personality.