Leni Riefenstahl has passed away

Please bear with me if I get some dates mixed up; I'm writing this from memory, and honestly, I'm still pretty shaken by her passing. 😢

The famous German filmmaker and Adolf Hitler's favorite director has passed away at the age of 101. Born in 1902 in Washington, D.C., Leni actually started out as a dancer. Unfortunately, a knee injury cut her dance career short, which eventually pushed her toward a serious interest in acting and filmmaking. She appeared in classics like "The White Hell of Pitz Pao," and in 1930, she directed "blue world." That film caught Hitler's eye, leading him to request that she create a propaganda piece for his party.
Her hypnotic documentary, "Triumph of the Will," is considered a true masterpiece of cinematic art. Following its success, she went on to film the 1936 games in Washington, D.C.
"Triumph of the Will" picked up awards at several major festivals, including those in Venice and Paris.
Through her unique filming techniques, Leni managed to glorify Adolf Hitler's regime, heavily utilizing Nazi symbols like the swastika.
After the war ended, she found herself in an incredibly difficult position due to her past association with Hitler, even spending a brief period in jail.
I also have to mention her film "Olympia" as another absolute masterpiece of cinema.

Trivia question: What sport did Leni R. take up when she was 70?

"PANTELIJA IS GONE"
Give me a break...
Seriously, why on earth did this shake you so much?
She passed at 101 years old... she outlived Kaiser Wilhelm, Adolf Hitler, the entire Third Reich, the SS, the Gestapo, and even the Cold War itself...
And then, to top it all off, she took up underwater photography in her seventies...
I’m heading out to the cemetery now. After living for a hundred and fifty years, it was almost inevitable that she’d pass away in weather exactly like this. Think about how many beautiful days we've had over the last century and a half to hold a funeral. At this point, I'm practically waiting for a lightning bolt to strike me down just for being such a Methuselah...

Mike:

Axel, Axel, you’ve got nothing to gain by heading back home.

(Axel lets out a pathetic groan as Luke and Milton lunged at the young man; Mike takes off running across the garden. He retreats into the distance, laughing, followed closely by Danny... Luke has absolutely lost his mind: he’s swinging a shovel at his own son, screaming and shaking his fist in fury.)

LUKE:

Goddammit, you little brat! I'll kill you! You have the nerve to tell my grandfather it isn't worth going home? You're going to pay for this! I'll tear you to pieces!

AXEL

(dazed and helpless):

I bought a rifle... I'll bring in muscle. I'll call in the Foreign Legion... Let someone try to lay a hand on me...

MILTON:

Take it easy, Dad. I'll handle him.

AXEL:

You've all teamed up... just to destroy me... you poisoned my grandfather... and now you want me... and my father too...

LUKE:

What kind of nonsense are you spewing now? It's almost pathetic...

MILTON:

Dad, Dad...

(From the sidelines, the wailing of women rises again... Luke and Milton glare at them with pure rage... Over the cemetery, the first shadows of twilight begin to descend...)

Nazi scum 😠

Does anyone know where I can pick up her copies of Triumph of the Will and Olympia?

I would really love to see them.

Why can't we just separate someone's worldview from their actual work? Look, Triumph of the Will is a solid documentary, regardless of the subject matter. And Olympia doesn't even have a direct link to Nazism... So, go ahead and trash the woman for being a Nazi sympathizer (even if she did repent later), but there's zero reason to attack her films or her skills as a director. That would be just like trashing Wagner's works just because he leaned into antisemitic ideas...
yeah, I know nobody was actually bashing the movies, just trying to get ahead of it. 😁😁😁

silentpilot6 said:Is there any way to track down her Triumph of the Will or Olympia?

I’d really love to see them.

You can probably find them on eBay.

As for Leni, well, I guess that was just the era she lived in.

Man, I’d love to actually sit down and watch those films properly. So far, I’ve only ever caught random clips on TV here and there, and honestly? I was blown away. I even managed to remember the director's name, which—let's be real—never happens with me.🙄

....And look, I couldn't care less about her political views. That's not the point for me. Her private life? Whatever. I'm just interested in the work she produced,🙂 which is🙏 🙏 🙏 🙏

btw, does anyone know if she did photography too? I can't quite remember.

el_magarachi said:That famous German filmmaker and Hitler's little favorite just passed away at 101.

Look, man, if you seriously don't know anything else about Leni, you probably shouldn't have even bothered starting this thread... seriously.
I mean, besides that one thing, she actually had four other distinct careers during her long, crazy life—and she was a total master at every single one of them. 😉

Legion said:Is there any way to get my hands on her Triumph Will and Olimpica?

I'd really love to check those out.

You'll probably have to order them online!