Leni Riefenstahl Speech

Good Morning Mr Page and Miss Healy

In 1934 people were crazy and there was a great enthusiasm for Hitler. We had to try and find that with our camera. Helene Amatie Bertha Riefenstahl was born in Berlin on the 22nd August 1902. Born to Alf Leni Riefenstahl was born on 22 August 1902. She was the eldest of two children and grew up in Wedding, one of the working-class industrial suburbs on the edges of Berlin before moving to Berlin-Neukollen. Riefenstahl’s father Alfred Theodor Paul Reifenstahl was a plumber and small businessman. He was a hard and demanding figure. Leni’s mother was Bertha Ida Scherlach Riefenstahl. Leni Riefenstahl was an expressionist dancer during the Expressionist movement, a major actress and filmmaker during the growth of German cinema and a Nazi associate during the years of Nazi Germany. Leni was seen as an opportunist. The statement ‘Significant Individuals reflect the needs of their time’ applies significantly to Riefenstahl. In regarding the statement Leni had to overcome certain obstacles to achieve what she desired. The film

industry was mainly a male driven industry aswell as money driven. With the new freedoms of the Weimar Leni was able to partially achieve what she had to become successful.

During the Weimar Republic year’s between1924-29 are regarded as the ‘Golden Age of Weimar’ due their stability, economic security and improved living standards compared to previous years.

Leni Riefenstahl’s passion for dance, especially the particular style she undertook, can be assumed derived from the Expressionist movement in post-WWI Europe Korperkultur Movement (the cult of the body). The movement focused on the encouragement of experiencing and conveying emotions. Dance, art, music, film and drama became about communicating ideas and feelings. Dance transformed from a rigid, structured manner to free flowing, gymnastic, contorted movements emphasising the body and its form. One of her films where Leni displayed these characteristics is “Blue Light”. This film was a pioneering masterpiece written, directed, produced and starred by leni. In doing this Leni reflected the needs of her time to be

successful.

Leni Riefenstahl was a product of her time. Her artistic ingenuity was catalysed by the Expressionist movement and the growth of German cinema in the 1920’s. Her Nazi association was brought about with the fall of the Weimar Republic and the manipulation by Adolf Hitler. Internationally denounced after the war due to “de-Nazification”, Riefenstahl’s life took a tremendous turn. However, as time continues on, even after her death, her association with the Nazi Party is being less emphasised and is instead she is seen as a remarkable woman that pioneered the advancement of cinematography in the 20th Century.