Well said, Frank. keith whaley
frank theriault wrote: > > You're right, Sid, > > What's not controversial about her is her skill and innovation as a filmaker. > Beyond that, I don't know what to think. > > She claimed never to have been a party member. Claimed that in her later years > at least, she didn't subscribe to Nazi politics or policy. Claimed that she > never (as was rumoured) had an affair with Hitler, and that she wasn't that > close to him. Claimed that her great works, including her personal triumph, > "Triumph of the Will" was not propaganda, but merely (from her point of view) "a > commission". > > In her old age she said that she wished she'd never been born. > > OTOH, she could have denounced the Nazi regime, but she didn't. She could have > apologized for (even unwittingly) making propaganda for one of the most evil > regimes that this earth has ever seen, but she didn't. > > She may not have been a party member, but evidence seems to point to the fact > that as a young woman she was enamoured of the party, and it's policies, and > seemed somewhat eager to become "an insider". If that was true, she could have, > after the fact, said that she was young, deluded, like many others in her > country was fooled by the absolute and intoxicating power that the new party > promised, and thereby blinded to the darker elements that we can now see were > lurking just under the surface. But she didn't. > > It has been said that some propagandists of evil regimes, such as Eisenstein in > the USSR, weren't vilified like her, and that their works were allowed to be > seen as the art that they were, and not dismissed as propaganda. It has been > suggested that there was some sort of vendetta against Leni, who never did a > film after WWII, as she could never get any sort of funding (and thus was > effectively black-listed) - the reason that she could only produce works of > still photography. > > She was an enogma to be sure. She was a great filmaker and photographer to be > sure (her still photographs of the '36 Olympics are amazing). I personally > think that her personal politics were much more in line with Nazi-ism than she > ever let on after the war. Rightly or wrongly, that feeling colours my > appreciation for her as an artist. > > regards, > frank > > Sid Barras wrote: > > > I thought it would be good to stir up some non-*istD controversy-- > > > > And what better person to discuss infamy and fame about than Adolph Hitler's > > own photographer and cinematographer? > > > > She could very well have been the most influential photographer of all time. > > > > Her use of camera angles in Triumph of the Will is a masterpiece. Had she > > not gone into seclusion for so long after the fall of the Nazi regime, she > > might have given us even more. > > > > Regardless, the Nubian pictures, her undersea photography (pursued well into > > her 9th generation) gave us ample evidence this was not merely a Nazi > > propagandist... > > > > Sid > > (definitely not a Nazi sympathizer) > > -- > Honour - that virtue of the unjust! > -Albert Camus
