Thursday, March 22, 2007
Interesting review of a new book on the life of "Hitler's Filmmaker," Leni: The Life and Work of Leni Riefenstahl: The Real Leni Riefenstahl:
It is, of course, spurious formalism to defend Riefenstahl by separating politics from art since, as Steven Bach points out in “Leni: The Life and Work of Leni Riefenstahl,†few filmmakers have “so successfully commingled the two.†In his engaging biography, Bach puts the lie to Riefenstahl’s self-vindication and to the whitewashing campaign undertaken by sympathetic reviewers.
Using new primary sources, Bach proves that Riefenstahl was not compelled to make “Triumph of the Will,†as she maintained until her death in 2003. Rather, she specifically requested permission to direct the film that institutionalized the so-called “fascist aesthetic.†Furthermore, although Riefenstahl was adamant about the purely documentary nature of her work, Bach argues convincingly that “Triumph†is not a straightforward depiction of the 1934 Nuremberg Rally.
The famous call-and-response Labor Service sequence in which workers proudly state their hometowns (Q: “Where do you come from, comrade?†A: “I come from Frieslandâ€) was carefully choreographed and rehearsed upward of 50 times. Hitler’s arrival by air lacks, in Bach’s words, “any objective authenticityâ€: After introductory titles proclaim the “rebirth of Germany,†a small plane glides through the sky and cloud banks drift apart as sunlight floods the screen.
Bach also puts to rest the notion that Riefenstahl knew nothing of the racial policies that led to the Final Solution. After Hitler invaded Poland, Riefenstahl obtained war-correspondent status and traveled to Konskie, where she witnessed the murder of unarmed Jewish civilians. In September 1942 she visited Maxglan, a Gypsy internment camp, and requisitioned 23 prisoners to serve as unpaid extras in “Tiefland,†an epic film financed by the Reich.
Riefenstahl, it seems clear, was not a virulent antisemite. As she mentioned whenever the opportunity arose, she had Jewish friends, colleagues and even, in her youth, a Jewish lover. Bach makes the case that Riefenstahl was not motivated by political or racist zeal. Rather, she glorified Hitler because she was an opportunist with no moral compass. It was her lifelong ambition to become a famous artist — and if cozying up to the Führer was her best chance at fame, then ethics be damned.
Sounds about right. I've never thought much of these "good German" protests -- I hear that rather frequently with regard to people like Irwin Rommel, who, it never ceases to be pointed out, was not a Nazi, didn't much like them and ended up plotting against Hitler. Of course, he also did his darndest to fight the Nazi military cause and didn't turn against his Fuhrer until it was clear Germany was losing. I'm sure he had his mitigations, but they've always seemed thin to me.
I too am always suspicious of the 'Good German' connotation. However, I did know good Germans through my Mother.
She was raised speaking German at home in Chicago, as her parents was German born. She banned any use of German in her home after 1936. So angry and ashamed was she about Hitler and the Nazis that none of us children were ever allowed to take German language courses. I know she lost cousins in the camps, and she held a grudge against Germany for following Hitler until her death at 94. Even my Grandfather, Aunts and Uncles were forbidden to use German while in our house. All three of her brothers served in WWII, two in the Navy and one as a Marine pilot. If asked about her heritage,she would say American, and Irish by marriage.
Thanks, Tom. Just for the record, I don't mean to imply that there were no good Germans at all -- far from it -- it's just hard to take that quite so seriously when talking about instrumental people...like Riefenstahl and Rommel.
I agree completely. My point was poorly expressed. Mom felt there were way too few good Germans. Most just went along, if not actively supporting the Nazi agenda. She felt the shame that Germany should have felt, and did so before the actual Holocaust began. Too bad more Germans, both here and in Germany, did not follow her instincts about what happening in time to stop it. Riefenstahl, and others like her, were both opportunistic, and facilitators, and damn the consequences. It is what can happen to a society when people lose their moral compass. I wonder where our moral compass is pointing? Keep showing the way.