Riefenstahl Memoirs

Author: Leni Riefenstahl
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2007-01-01
Features: "Leni Riefenstahl's Memoirs": "I am just an artist, not very concerned with reality, I just want to preserve all the beauty of the past." She refused to apologize. Therefore, people also refused to forgive her. We often assume that truth, goodness, and beauty are always unified, but of course, that is not the case. Some kindness is weak, some truth is cruel, and some beauty is toxic. Susan Sontag, who harshly criticized Riefenstahl, said: "Between truth and justice, I choose truth." While Riefenstahl chose beauty, even if it was cruel and reckless. People endlessly ask me if I had a romance with Hitler or if I was Hitler's girlfriend. Every time, I smile and tell them it's a rumor. I just made documentaries for him. Women are not allowed to make mistakes. Leni Riefenstahl, dancer, actress, director, producer, photographer, and writer, was one of the most famous and controversial figures in 20th-century Germany. She was the only woman among the 100 most important artists of the 20th century, as chosen by Time magazine. Born in Berlin in 1902. In 1933, she filmed the documentary Triumph of Faith for the Nazi Party's Nuremberg Congress. The following year, she filmed the documentary Olympia, which was both praised and condemned by the world. In 1936, at the request of the International Olympic Committee, she filmed a documentary for the Berlin Olympics. This documentary, later named Olympia, became almost the Bible of all sports documentaries. In 1945, she was branded a Nazi sympathizer and arrested, serving four years in prison, after which she bid farewell to the beloved film industry. Film critic Richard Corliss candidly said: "That's because Triumph of Faith was so good, plus her style, plus, she was a woman, a beautiful person." In 1955, Hemingway's novel Green Hills of Africa captivated her with Africa. She traveled there several times to deeply study the customs of the Nuba people and published a photography book. In 1974, at the age of 72, she lied about her age, claiming to be 20, and joined a deep-sea diving training class, becoming obsessed with underwater photography and becoming the oldest deep-sea diver in history. In 1984, at the age of 80, she began writing this memoir to "clarify misunderstandings and eliminate prejudices," which took her five years to complete. Leni Riefenstahl passed away in 2003 at the age of 101.