31 July 2010

2 comments:

Lorne Roberts said...

hmmm. she's somewhere in her mid-50's (maybe even 60) when this interview was done.

she looks like she's about 35 or so.

not a very good journalist interviewing her. take off your shades, buddy. yeesh.

****

from Wikipedia: Helene Bertha Amalie "Leni" Riefenstahl; 22 August 1902 - 8 September 2003) was a German film director, actress and dancer widely noted for her aesthetics and innovations as a filmmaker. Her most famous film was Triumph des Willens (Triumph of the Will), a propaganda film made at the 1934 Nuremberg congress of the Nazi Party. Riefenstahl's prominence in the Third Reich along with her personal friendships with Adolf Hitler and Joseph Goebbels thwarted her film career following Germany's defeat in World War II, after which she was arrested but released without any charges.[1]

Triumph of the Will gave Riefenstahl instant and lasting international fame. Although she directed only eight films, just two of which received significant coverage outside of Germany, Riefenstahl was widely known all her life. The propaganda value of her films made during the 1930s repels most modern commentators but many film histories cite the aesthetics as outstanding. The Economist wrote that Triumph of the Will "sealed her reputation as the greatest female filmmaker of the 20th century".

In interviews for the 1993 film The Wonderful, Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl, Riefenstahl adamantly denied any deliberate attempt to create pro-Nazi propaganda and said she was disgusted that Triumph of the Will was used in such a way. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leni_Riefenstahl)

Lorne Roberts said...

she was 63 here. crazy.

and again, what a lousy bit of work by the journalist, though i guess you'd have to see the whole interview to get a better idea.