The Life Of Leni Riefenstahl

Good afternoon Mrs Harmer and Class.

Leni Riefenstahl. Nazi associate and sympathizer or pure film pioneer will be the debate for centuries to come. However one thing we know about Leni is that she was a accurate representation of an “Individuals being a product of their time”. This statement is very accurate and true in reference to the life of Leni Riefenstahl

Leni Riefenstahl born on the 22nd of August 1902 is an example of one who has adapted to their time. Leni was brought into a wealthy middle class family, which was a privilege in Germany in these years, and due to this her family was able to avoid the economic and political crises in Germany. Throughout Leni’s childhood (the years from birth leading up to her adulthood) were the years of the Expressionism movement. German Expressionism was primarily throughout Berlin and was referred to as the movement through which feeling and emotion were communicated through the use of cinematography, artwork, and dance.

From a young age it seemed that Leni had a passion for expressionism. In 1906 when she was only four, she took up painting and began to compose pieces of poetry. At the age of 16, her passion for dance was found after watching a performance of Snow White. She was inspired and determined to dance which was against her fathers wishes, although she had extensive support from her mother. It took her until the age of 19 to start studying dance after finally receiving permission from her father - and in 1925 appeared in her first role in the film “Ways to Strength and Beauty”. This film which Leni played a dancer in depicted Leni as a striking women.

As cinematography was aimed for its peak in the 1920’s, opportunity was great as the film industry was subsidized, whic...

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...heir laws. All Nazi sympathizers and associates would be questioned and their penalty would alter accordingly. In June 1945, Leni Riefenstahl was imprisoned on the basis that she was a Nazi sympathizer, but was later released. This process once again occurred one the French jailed Riefenstahl. Leni Riefenstahl from then on would always be associated with Nazism, and was left on a global scale, vulnerable to many criticisms.

Through the life of Leni Riefenstahl we are able to observe that she was brought up in a time of expressionism and a increased growth of cinema, Had Nazi association and was greatly manipulated by Hitler, and her film career came to a crashing end as so did with the Nazi party. Through all this evidence, it is fair to conclude that Leni Riefenstahl is a prime example of an individual of whom is a product of their time.