The Wonderful, Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl
Documentary
-
1993
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This documentary recounts the life and work of one of most famous, and yet reviled, German film directors in history, Leni Riefenstahl. The film recounts the rise of her career from a dancer, to a movie actor to the most important film director in Nazi Germany who directed such famous propaganda films as Triumph of the Will and Olympiad. The film also explores her later activities after Nazi Germany's defeat in 1945 and her disgrace for being so associated with it which includes her amazingly active life over the age of 90.
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Cast:
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Details
Rated:
N/A
Runtime:
180 min
Release date:
11 Sep 1993
Country:
FR, GB, DE, BE
Languages:
German
Budget:
$0
Revenue:
$449,707
Awards:
2 wins & 1 nomination.
Top Critics Reviews
rotten:
This is more often self-portrait than portrait; like Hitler in Riefenstahl's Triumph of the Will, she's presented as a fully formed deity without family background or ideology save a reverence for beauty and strength.
– Jonathan Rosenbaum,
Chicago Reader,
14 Mar 2007
fresh:
Sometimes clunky but consistently fascinating.
– Vincent Canby,
New York Times,
30 Aug 2004
fresh:
This movie is fascinating in so many different ways: As the story of an extraordinary life, as the reconstruction of the career of one of the greatest of film artists, as the record of an ideological debate, as a portrait of an amazing old woman.
– Roger Ebert,
Chicago Sun-Times,
1 Jan 2000
fresh:
Overly long, but fascinating.
– Desson Thomson,
Washington Post,
1 Jan 2000