‘Riefenstahl’: A Masterful Look at the Life and Self Image of a Nazi Propagandist

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By Gregory Crofton

From the start you can see this is a meticulously crafted and well-paced documentary. The subject, German filmmaking legend Leni Riefenstahl, is equally fascinating, and in turn this archival film by Andres Veiel is impossible to turn off or turn away from.

The darkness of the Nazi Era (1933-1945) remains fascinating and relevant today and a proper dissection of the life of its chief film propagandist Leni Riefenstahl was overdue.

With the help of a team of researchers, Veiel’s built his narrative out of Riefenstahl’s personal archive that contained revelatory interviews and film clips as well as telling omissions. The archive became available after the death of Riefenstahl’s partner in life and work, Horst Kettner, in 2016.

“Riefenstahl had gained interpretative sovereignty over her biography up to the end of her long life,” said producer, and driving force behind the film, Sandra Maischberger. “Was it possible that evidence of a different truth could be found in 700 boxes? This thought wouldn’t let go of me.”

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Riefenstahl died in 2003 at the age of 101. Throughout her life she sat down in front of many journalists and maintained that she had no direct knowledge of the atrocities committed by the Nazis, that she was only a hired professional filmmaker. “Riefenstahl” reveals the story she worked so long to cover up.

She was a committed member of the Nazi Party who was romantically involved with many of its leaders, even possibly Adolf Hitler. It was not a coincidence that the film asthetic she is known for — montages that convey the beauty of the body and triumph of the spirit — matched the Nazi philosophies. Her first film “The Blue Light,” in which she climbs a mountain face next to a waterfall, became an ad hoc solicitation to join the inner circle of Hitler’s administration.

After Germany lost World War II, Riefenstahl’s brilliance, media savy and work ethic kept this question at bay for decades: “But was she really a Nazi?” Veiel’s film will surely be the final word on the matter.

Thankfully he doesn’t condemn her work or her person, but rather explains how it might have come to be this way. Watch the trailer below. This documentary is available to rent for $5 here.