I WATCHED THIS A COUPLE MONTHS AGO AND I'M STILL TRYING TO SORT OUT HOW I FEEL ABOUT IT.
As a rule, I try to separate the presence of a single person in a film (or directing a film) from the film itself since scores of other people worked on it. For instance, I love SEVEN, THE USUAL SUSPECTS, THE SHIPPING NEWS and BABY DRIVER but Kevin Spacey is in them. I'm not going to stop watching those films because of one shitty person. FAUST and THE BLUE ANGEL are still favourites even though they star Hitler booster Emil Jannings in them. I grew up listening to Bill Cosby's comedy records so many times that I know all of them by heart. And loved them. But they're Bill Cosby. This is a dilemma a lot of us have to sort out for ourselves. As a way of introduction, this is the same dilemma which confronted me when I've watched films that were directed by Leni Riefenstahl (TRIUMPH OF THE WILL, OLYMPIA PART ONE & TWO). Undoubtedly technically innovative and pretty brilliant that would be wonderful to celebrate as the work of a female director in the 1930's -- except for that whole Nazi thing. Oh well, at least we still have Dorothy Arzner. Ray Muller's documentary tells the whole life story of Riefenstahl from her early days as a model then actor in the German "mountain" films on through her work as a film director and on to her odd (mostly unseen) work done in Africa and, late in life, underwater photography. Interestingly, no one is interviewed in the documentary except for Riefenstahl herself. However, this decision becomes self-evident when you think that anybody else Muller interviewed would pretty much have the same things to say about her. Muller deftly juxtaposes Riefenstahl's rather rosy depiction of her life with cutaways which comment of the actual truth about her. Of course, Riefenstahl is full of excuses why she was not actually a Nazi or even a Nazi sympathizer, had nothing to do with the rallies other than filming them, was always at odds with Goebbels because she had no Nazi sympathies whatsoever. No, of course not.
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| Leni Riefenstahl not being in any way chummy with Hitler |
These ridiculous statements are juxtaposed with countless photographs, motion picture footage, letters and telegrams which show she was quite sympatico with Nazism and was a Hitler booster. The chummy shots of Riefenstahl alongside Hitler do not show someone who is gritting her teeth and baring it; she's one of the family. Riefenstahl puts on a meek and mild, butter wouldn't melt in her mouth, facade when on camera; it is when she thinks the camera is off (but Muller keeps it running) in which her rather sharp, nasty side can be seen quite clearly. Muller's job here is not in any way to try to make anyone reevaluate the director or her life; it is to present this paradoxical question mark of a person's life in as clear a light as possible. This the documentary does; if it takes a little too long to do it; at 180 minutes even I got fatigued with the subject. That's way longer than it needs to be. While Muller shows Riefenstahl to be the Nazi that she was in no uncertain terms, I still got a sort of queasy feeling several times while watching. I think that perhaps it was because of Riefenstahl's angelic "Who? Me?" bullshit demeanor that kinda made me sick. I know she's scrambling to save face and outright lying much of the time, but just watching her continually speak and act like she's been misunderstood all these years really stuck in my craw. Having said all that, Muller's doc is a definite must-see if you're at all interested in filmmaking and is beautifully done if a tad long.
