RIP Leni Riefenstahl

You will be missed.

But only by the ultra far right, and those surviving members of the thired Reich.

Do you think she's filming a documentary with Hitler now?

KindaKinky said:

Do you think she's filming a documentary with Hitler now?

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Its too hot for filming where they are now. The film keeps melting.

I hope the RIP stands for rot in pieces.

IFC had a documentary on her. Really interesting stuff. She took the nazi job as just a job.

Brilliant use of the medium. Great filmmaker.

Maybe so Spin, but so did most of the guards at Auschwitz.

RosevilleCAguy said:

Its too hot for filming where they are now. The film keeps melting.

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Film? I'm sure she's digital by now...

...besides I think now uses firewire exclusively

RosevilleCAguy said:

Maybe so Spin, but so did most of the guards at Auschwitz.

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So did the pilot of the Enola Gay.

Pfft. I have relatives who cashed paychecks from the Third Reich.

See Patton's comments on the subject.

If Riefenstahl had ever expressed any regret for her glorification of Naziism, I suspect there would not be so much opprobrium for her all these years later.

But the fact is, she remained an unrepentant Hitlerite all her life, so in my opinion, the strong reaction towards her is understandable.

http://www.riefenstahl.org/guestbook/leni-thankyou.jpg

http://image.pathfinder.com/time/europe/magazine/2002/0826/leni.jpg

So how many Mea Culpas and I'm Not Worthys are required for proper penance and a clean breast? Ten? One hundred? One hundred thousand?

Who's to say?

I can listen to my cousin's Eastern Frint stories just like I can listen to any vet's tales. His, if anything, are far better, because I've never heard first-hand Russian war tales anywhere else.

He was on the wrong side, and he knows it. They lost - fair and square. He fought his nation's war, just like most men of that generation did. I think he has his head screwed on right about the whole thing.

For Leni, it must have been a pretty heady experience. She really had become anachronistic, don't you think?

Byron In Exile said:

So did the pilot of the Enola Gay.

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Yep.

IMHO, there is a difference between the two. A closer comparison would be the Ami and British pilots who flattened Dresden.

While not as spectacular an event in terms of singularity, it resulted in more deaths and while Hiroshima and Nagasaki were are least arguably military in the sense the the objective of a war is not the destruction of the enemy, but the destruction of his will to fight, Dresden had no military value. Its sole purpose was to show the Red Army the potentially airpower they faced in post war Europe.

What is often overlooked about Hiroshima and Nagasaki is that even after the bombs were dropped, the Japanese were not going to surrender. It took the direct intervention of the Emperor to turn the tide.

One thing I can say to the credit of Leni is that she refused to film any "war" stuff.

mbb308 said:

So how many Mea Culpas and I'm Not Worthys are required for proper penance and a clean breast? Ten? One hundred? One hundred thousand?

Who's to say?

I can listen to my cousin's Eastern Frint stories just like I can listen to any vet's tales. His, if anything, are far better, because I've never heard first-hand Russian war tales anywhere else.

He was on the wrong side, and he knows it. They lost - fair and square. He fought his nation's war, just like most men of that generation did. I think he has his head screwed on right about the whole thing.

For Leni, it must have been a pretty heady experience. She really had become anachronistic, don't you think?

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Leni pretty much was toast after the war career wise. She was and is responsible for a lot of the film techniques used today.

I guess what bugs me on a personal level about Leni is that she did have a choice, and chose to do what she did to glorify Hitler, unlike the vast bulk of the combatants on both sides. This is particularly annoying because of the Nazi reliance on propaganda through film and Leni's brilliance in the area.

mbb308 said:

So how many Mea Culpas and I'm Not Worthys are required for proper penance and a clean breast? Ten? One hundred? One hundred thousand?

Who's to say?

I can listen to my cousin's Eastern Frint stories just like I can listen to any vet's tales. His, if anything, are far better, because I've never heard first-hand Russian war tales anywhere else.

He was on the wrong side, and he knows it. They lost - fair and square. He fought his nation's war, just like most men of that generation did. I think he has his head screwed on right about the whole thing.

For Leni, it must have been a pretty heady experience. She really had become anachronistic, don't you think?

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There's a big difference between a soldier performing his duty for his country and the member of the nation's ruling elite.


In my opinion, there is no end to the amount of penance that the Nazi elite would have to perform in order to be forgiven.

Hanns,

As an interesting side note, the Nazis were actually advocates of a Jewish Homeland in then British ruled Palestine, so much so that Eichmann actually visited there in the late 30's to look into it.

As another side, the spelling of your screen name is the same as one of the more infamous figures at Dachau. Ironic, given your pro-israel stance.

Hanns_Schmidt said:

Shut the fuck up you diseased slime ball

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I don't have to shut up, your side lost World War Two.

Queersetti said:

There's a big difference between a soldier performing his duty for his country and the member of the nation's ruling elite.


In my opinion, there is no end to the amount of penance that the Nazi elite would have to perform in order to be forgiven.

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It was my understanding that Miss Leni fell out of favor about the time Poland was invaded. Shit, I thought she had died years ago.

I always wondered about the fate of Julius Streicher. He was never given much authority in the government, and is heard little of from 1933 until the Nurenburg Trials.

One of Streicher's guards tied a noose out of string and held a light behind it, casting a shadow through Streicher's cell door on the far wall. A rap on the door, a moment's hesitation, and the inmate's howls could be heard down the corridor.

I don't have a problem with that.

mbb308 said:

It was my understanding that Miss Leni fell out of favor about the time Poland was invaded. Shit, I thought she had died years ago.

I always wondered about the fate of Julius Streicher. He was never given much authority in the government, and is heard little of from 1933 until the Nurenburg Trials.

One of Streicher's guards tied a noose out of string and held a light behind it, casting a shadow through Streicher's cell door on the far wall. A rap on the door, a moment's hesitation, and the inmate's howls could be heard down the corridor.

I don't have a problem with that.

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Julius Streicher was found guilty of crimes against humanity at Nuremberg War Crimes Trial. His last words before execution on 16th October, 1946, was "Heil Hitler".

Streicher lost his power in 1940 when he published supposedly untrue stories about Goering.


Leni fell out of favor for not making war films.

Sorry Hanns, it's same, down the the spelling of "Hanns" with two "n"s.

Better do research next time.

mbb308 said:

It was my understanding that Miss Leni fell out of favor about the time Poland was invaded. Shit, I thought she had died years ago.

I always wondered about the fate of Julius Streicher. He was never given much authority in the government, and is heard little of from 1933 until the Nurenburg Trials.

One of Streicher's guards tied a noose out of string and held a light behind it, casting a shadow through Streicher's cell door on the far wall. A rap on the door, a moment's hesitation, and the inmate's howls could be heard down the corridor.

I don't have a problem with that.

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It's true that Riefenstahl fell out of favor, bur she remained a supporter of, and apologist for, the regime for the rest of her life. We can certainly disagree as to whether or not she deserves forgiveness, as neither of us can make such a judgment for the other.

As to Streicher, it has also been rumored ever since the executions that the hangman deliberately misplaced the knot of the noose in order to prolong his suffering.

Queersetti said:

As to Streicher, it has also been rumored ever since the executions that the hangman deliberately misplaced the knot of the noose in order to prolong his suffering.

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tsk. A total lack of professionalism.

Leni Riefenstahl

Leni Riefenstahl !!

What a woman!

She gave so much to the world. It is unfortunate that the knee-jerks around here don't know much about her, except for Triumph of the Will. Remembering her just for that picture is like remembering Ronald Reagan for his Chesterfield commercials. Accurate, but off point.

But, alas, the victors write the history, and force people like Leni Riefenstahl to appear on the endless TV "Oprah" shows explaining about the Nazis who hired her to do the film. Anyone who understands what is said in Triumph of the Will knows better than to say that it is a Nazi hate film.

The point was to show a healthy counterbalance to the decadent Berlin scene -- to show unity of all of the different factions within pre-WWII Germany, and to emphasize the importance of contributing physically (through constructive labor -- as opposed to intellectual efforts) to help build Germany's rotted infrastructure.

Nothing about Jews, Gypsies, Negroes, Racial Purity, etc. It's not about that. It’s about hope for the future and it’s about unity between the SA and SS branches of the military, vital to the health and future of the nation.

You know, it might do one well to learn some things about the great contributors of the 20th Century before commie-condemning them. This 101 year old woman lived long enough both to ride in the first automobile ever driven in Nuremberg and to post messages on the internet. During that time, she never stopped working (except during times of illness or injury)!

The years she contributed to the development of film (and life in general in Africa) should not be forgotten. In any event, I see that the same people who ignorantly condemn Riefenstahl are the same who condemned Strom Thurman the week he died as well. You are merely P. C. clowns! Use your brain for a change, and take the longer view of history and of human life.

The world will and should grieve Riefenstahl's passing. She is a credit to her profession, her country, her sex, her craft, and to the arts generally. Rest in peace.

About Leni's Africa: http://www.taschen.com/pages/en/catalogue/books/photography/all/facts/02605.htm