Leni Riefenstahl (Paperback)

by Leni Riefenstahl (Author) "It is not easy for me to leave the present behind and to immerse myself in the past in order to understand my life in..." (more)
Key Phrases: rally film, printing lab, wrestling festival, Leni Riefenstahl, New York, Ministry of Propaganda (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Filmmaker Riefenstahl's autobiography details her relationships with Nazi officials and international celebrities as well as her postwar life and travels.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
The subtitle of this book could appropriately have been "An Apologia." According to Riefenstahl, she is an apolitical, passive person who was pushed into her career as a German film actress and filmmaker of such Nazi-era classics as Triumph of the Will and Olympia. Whatever the truth, she did have a remarkable career then and subsequently achieved new fame as a talented photographer. Unfortunately, she writes in a monotonous, unemotional style that dilutes the most prominent times of her life, even her relationship with Hitler. This, coupled with the dubious reliability of her recollections, make the memoir a disappointment. Such works as David Hinton's The Films of Leni Riefenstahl (Scarecrow, 1992), Renata Berg-Pan's Leni Riefenstahl (Twayne, 1980), and Glenn Infield's Leni Riefenstahl: The Fallen Film Goddess ( LJ 10/15/76) will have to suffice until a definitive biography is written.
- Roy Liebman, California State Univ. Lib., Los Angeles
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 669 pages
• Publisher: Picador (January 15, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312119267
• ISBN-13: 978-0312119263
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #292,607 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #64 in

  Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Arts & Literature > Movie Directors

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

42 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Author response, February 5, 2001

By	leni (Berlin) - See all my reviews

Dear Amazon.com book buyers. I thank you for your gracious comments. Your wisdom has impressed me with its depth and sincerity. As I head into my second century of robust and womanly life, I will take your kind words to heart. At last, I am understood as I would like to be understood, not as so-called "witnesss" and "scholars" would have it. Their truth is dead, yet mine lives on. God bless the internet for which we give our thanks. It has conveyed history, as it must be. The people have spoken

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Our Leni..., March 20, 2004

By	Dr. Oliver Strebel (Berlin, Deutschland) - See all my reviews

...was just using the wrong men. And it is definitely not her fault that she lived
in these times.

I also believed for a long time that Riefenstahl produced propaganda movies for
the Nazis including hate speeches and incitation to aggressive wars. But everybody
who has seen her notorious movie "Triumph of the Will" knows that there Hitler preaches:
"We want that this nation will be peace-loving but also brave, thats why you must be
peaceful". Therefore the french government awarded this movie a "Grand Prix" during
the world fair 1937 in Paris.

And seven trials, one american, two french and four german, revealed that she was
never member of any Nazi organisation. To those, who still continue bashing Leni
Riefenstahl, I just want to say that they also cannot forsee the future. And they are
also incapable of remote viewing what happens in some concentration camps hundreds of
miles away, which were, as everybody knows, not accessible to the public.

This book is as fascinating as her olympic movies. Although I like to go to bed very
early I could not stop reading before 3:00 am. During breakfast I had to continue
reading. It shows clearly that Riefenstahl was an extraordinary strong personality.
Thats why she never gave excuses for crimes that she never commited, although a lot of
pressure was put on her in that direction. For this I tribute her lots of respect.
I am pretty much more concerned about those germans with weak moral, which believed
in the past to be a member of a superior race, while today they feel guilty
for crimes that they never commited, because they were not alive those times.
What kind of madness will originate from these delicate personalities in the future?
Another aspect: through Riefenstahls eyes it becomes discernible that the Nazi leaders
were a bizarre clique of gamblers and bohemiens.

But those, who read in between the lines of her memoirs, realize that Leni Riefenstahl
had not only an extremly strong will but also narcissistic traces in her character.
As a young girl she wanted to be admired as a dancer. Concerning men she decided to
control them always. Whenever necessary she twisted them around her little finger
and used them for her ambitions as an artist, which were the main motor of her live.
But her movies demonstrate clearly that she had a positive attitude towards men.

Everybody, who experienced as a forty year old man that a hundred year old lady
appeared to him interesting as a woman believes the following episode of her memoirs.
He also knows how she made it. 1936, in the olympic stadium, seen by all the
spectators, the winner of the decathlon Morris (USA) opened her shirt and kissed her
breast. Nazi propaganda minister Goebbels wanted to throw her out of the stadium
because of her scandalous behavior. This is typical of Riefenstahl: the king of
athlets must be captivated in the public and no thought about the consequences.

In german newspapers there are still rumours from hearsay that around 1937 Riefenstahl
confessed, Hitler has been kneeling in front of her and was asking her with wet hands
for marriage. But without these properties Riefenstahl would have never become the most
ingenious female movie maker of the 20th century. And which man was able to match her?

Absolutley: this is a five star book. But one star I withdraw from Leni Riefenstahl as
a sign of solidarity with some of the men she used. For instance the ingenious pioneer
of mountain movies and avantgardistic nature movie maker Dr. Arnold Fanck, the creator of
the breathtaking silent film "The white hell of Piz Palu".

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Very Moving Memoir, November 21, 1999

By	Nariaki Imamura (Osaka) - See all my reviews

I do not agree with the opinion that this memoir is merely a work of propoganda to try to salvage the author's image and legacy. One leaves this book very moved by the triumphs and tragedies of an fiercely independent woman who was willing to sacrifice everything for her passion and love of film-making. If you are the slightest bit curious about this woman, this book is absolutely essential for your library. It is endlessly fascinating and enjoyable reading.