L.A. opening Laemmle Royal 9/12/25
by Tony Medley
119 minutes.
NR.
This story of Nazi cinematographer Leni Riefenstahl (1902-2003) has been masterfully crafted by writer/director Andres Veiel, who was granted unprecedented access to all her files and records. It took him more than five years to review all the material and compile this captivating story of such an enigmatic woman. Was she a collaborative Nazi or just a filmmaker?
The film has a narrator, but it is mostly Leni telling her story by herself from her first diary from 1948, recordings of private phone calls with people like Albert Speer, a collection of unpublished photos, and 8mm footage from the ‘30s, and drafts of her memoirs, among a treasure trove of memorabilia.
It starts out with cuts from a 1976 TV talk show with Leni being interviewed by Ein Grespäch where she is challenged by a contemporary woman, Elfriede Kretschmer, who castigates her for not speaking up. Apparently, Leni was inundated with letters of support after the show aired.
Although Veiel found evidence that she was an enthusiastic supporter of the Nazis as early as 1932, she maintains throughout that she was just a filmmaker and was unaware of the atrocities of the Nazi regime, which she repeats over and over and over.
She was a beautiful woman throughout her life. When she was over 60, she began a relationship with Horst Keppler, 40 years her junior, which lasted for the rest of her life. Abused by her father, she had been an actress in the late 1920s before becoming a filmmaker.
She was an accomplished skier, and there are shots of her skiing in her later years, as well as when she was a young woman. There are also clips from her films, most notably Olympia (1938), about the 1936 Olympics. Many of her shots, especially those of the high divers, are almost lyrical, highlighted by unusual angles from which the shots are taken. There are also the propaganda shots of Nazi gatherings and vast crowds of supporting Germans from Triumph of the Will (1935). There is no denying Leni’s talent.
This is a fascinating film about a woman of whom many have heard, but few have known.
Tony Medley is an attorney, columnist, and MPAA-accredited film critic whose reviews and articles may be read in several newspapers and at rottentomatoes.com, CWEB.com, robinhoodnews.com, Movie Review Query Engine (mrqe.com), and at www.tonymedley.com. A former sports editor of the UCLA Daily Bruin, he is the author of four books, UCLA Basketball:The Real Story, Sweaty Palms: The Neglected Art of Being Interviewed, the first book ever written on the interview for the interviewee, having sold over a half million copies, and The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Bridge, which has sold over 100,000 copies, and Learn to Play Bridge Like a Boss. He is an American Contract Bridge League RubyLife Master and an ACBL accredited director. He is a Mensa Life Member and a member of the International Society of Philosophic Research, ISPE (“The Thousand”).
Official Trailer- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lD3J2jznG34
