Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2004/08/22
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Matthew-- Well said. And Riefenstahl was unrepentant to the end, it seems. Kit -----Original Message----- From: lug-bounces+kitmc=vuelux.com@leica-users.org [mailto:lug-bounces+kitmc=vuelux.com@leica-users.org] On Behalf Of Matthew Powell Sent: Sunday, August 22, 2004 6:52 PM To: Leica Users Group Subject: Re: [Leica] Leni Riefenstahl As a preface, I'm neither a film scholar nor an Eisenstein/Riefenstahl scholar and wouldn't claim to be. A couple of film studies courses here and there, but that's it. - We know a great deal of Eisenstein's feelings, as you can find a number of books of his writings on amazon.com and a fair selection of biographies and criticism. He was a Leninist, but as far as I know, never a Stalinist. A prime difference between Eisenstein and Riefenstahl is that she was gleefully complicit in the propagation of the Aryan image and the Nazi program, where Eisenstein faced a great deal of difficulty during the Stalinist era, and rebelled against the regime (cf. _Ivan the Terrible II_ and the destruction of what he had done on the third). His earlier work, made in praise of the Revolution and his Communist ideals, can hardly be called analgous to Triumph of the Will. Potemkin makes ideological heroes of the peasants and the rebellious soldiers - not Lenin or the Party. Triumph of the Will doesn't make heroes of rebellious Germans or even average Germans, it was made specifically in adoration of the Aryan ubermensch and Hitler himself. "And I am most unhappy with the media's spin on ideology. (Religious nuts are hardly right-wing, &c &c -- the Rightists advocate limited government and individual rights, the Leftists scream for gummit programs limiting personal liberities and reducing all citizens to a common state of servility to the authoritiies.)" Speaking of 'spin on ideology.' _______________________________________________ Leica Users Group. See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information