Assess the Contribution of Leni Riefenstahl to Her Period of National and/or International History.

In Jean-Louis Comolli and Jean Narboni’s essay “Cinema/Ideology/Criticism,” they put forward the central argument that film is a commercial product in the capitalist system and therefore also the unconscious instrument of the dominant ideology which produces it. In opposition to the classic film theory that applauds camera as an impartial device to reproduce reality, they argue that what the camera reproduces is merely a refraction of the prevailing ideology. Therefore, the primary and political task for filmmakers is to disrupt this replication of the world as self-evident and the function of film criticism is to identify and evaluate that politics. Comolli and Narboni then suggest seven categories of films confronting ideology in different ways, among which the second category resists the prevailing ideology on two levels. Films of this group not only overtly deal with political contents in order to “attack their ideological assimilation” (Comolli and Narboni 483), but also achieve their goal through breaking down the conventional way of depicting reality.

The film Triumph of the Will was created in 1934 after Hitler was named Fuhrer of Germany. At the time, Hitler was eager to improve the public image of the NSDP (National Socialist German Workers ' Party). After his election as chancellor in Early January 1933, Hitler gave Leni Riefenstahl the job of filming the annual NSDAP conference in Nuremberg, Germany . Riefenstahl accepted the offer and agreed document, direct and edit the Conference. As years pasted, the infamous “documentary” began to be speculated as possible Nazi Propaganda.

Triumph of the Will is a documentary of the Nazi Party conference in 1934 in Nuremberg. From the first frame of the film, Riefenstahl captures every essence of how worshiped Hitler

The major influences that led to Leni Riefenstahl’s rise to prominence includes a fateful event that kindles her fascination with film, the continual influence of mountain (Berg) films and acclaimed director Dr Arnold Fanck as well as her first début as a director and producer.

In the 60s, Soviet films begin to interpret WWII as a tragedy and a triumph (23). Larisa Shepitko’s Wings (1966) is about a female war veteran’s identity crisis in the post-war society. It depicts the ambivalent treatment of women in the patriarchal society, in which women who experience greater freedom in wartime and are expected to assume a more restrained domestic role. The film shows this internal conflict of the protagonist, Nadezhda Petrukhina, through a narration of her struggles in the post-war life and her nostalgia for the war.

As a film director Riefenstahl claimed to have opposed Hitler’s initial demands to direct “Victory of Faith” and “Triumph of the Will”. Though this places question on why she hesitated to undertake this task at first. Due to her persistence for what she loved to do which is clearly exemplified in her earlier childhood, this supports the idea that she had a reason to decline. In Source E Riefenstahl does not seem to be pleased or passionate in anyway when shaking hands with Hitler after being referred to as his”favourite cinematographer”, Riefenstahl body language of lowering her face lightly downwards,

Although she was not a Nazi, she supported Hitler’s views and beliefs. According to Heike G. Görtemaker, a German historian and author, he states in, She Was Not A Passive Bystander, that Eva became a well known person in Hitler’s inner circle. “But the sources available now show that Eva Braun has to be seen as part of Hitler's inner circle and not apart from it. Her life should not be called lost or tragic. She wanted to be at Hitler's side, and fought very hard, with all means, to achieve that position” (P.

Throughout the beginning of time people have used art to express themselves. With each major, and minor, there is an artist that captures the world as it is around him. There are also artists that create fiction to give the world and escape from reality. The medium of art that will be discussed in this essay will be film. Since the invention of Thomas Jefferson kinecto graph and the Lumiere brothers cinemtograph, films have continued to be the most popular entertainment methods in France and America. Since historical events have somewhat of an impact on the content in film, this essay will take a look at the effects of films years before and after World II. World War II was one of the major historical events to have

Casablanca, first released on January 23rd, 1943 is undoubtedly one of the masterpieces of Classical Hollywood film. Written and released in the midst of World War Two it explores themes such as love, desire and especially sacrifice. Although the love story of the protagonists is the cause and catalyst for most of the narrative, one would not necessarily associate it with the conventional Classical Hollywood love story. Rather as a fabula based on the principle of the importance of sacrifice in order to overcome a common enemy, in this case the Nazis. Casablanca does indeed contain many of the common characteristics identified with the Classical Hollywood film. An example being the the way director, Michael Curtiz used a mainly chronologically ordered narrative structure and the utilisation of a Cause and Effect chain. In this essay I will looking at the various ways I believe this film does fall into the criteria of a Classical Hollywood narrative and also how some could perceive that it does not.

Francois Truffaut continued on to say that Alain Resnais’ Night and Fog, made in 1955, was the “greatest film ever made”. The 30-minute film based on the horrors of the Holocaust and Nazi concentration camps after World War II combines Resnais’ own cinematography with original images and footage of the captives in their unfathomable state. The film is lead with a somber narrative that not only accompanies the sobering images being shown but both compliments them and puts them into perspective. Carl R. Plantigna’s chapter from his book ‘Rhetoric and Representation in

In this essay, I will explain why a documentary is always more realistic than a fiction film. I will show my thesis by exploring elements that influence how realistic a film is: film editing and format, genre, and transparency. I will use the documentary of Armadillo (2010), by Janus Pedersen, and the fiction film of The Chronicle of Anna Magdalena Bach (1968), by Danièle Huille as examples.

Sergei Eisenstein and Dziga Vertov are among the most identifiable names in early Soviet film. Their contributions to film, in the areas of montage and documentary film respectively, have helped to structure film, as we know it today. However, apart from their theoretical contributions to the field, both directors played an imperative role in Soviet film during the 1920s and 1930s. This paper examines historical revisionism within their film, how their theories of montage influenced the revisionism, and how they were persistent in the use montage throughout their careers as filmmakers to assert themselves as artists.

The German film industry was in search for a female icon that could replace Marlene Dietrich for her lack of role as a diva (Ascheid, 1999). Leander was viewed as a remarkable woman, who had the capacity to appear dangerously seductive while still remaining pure and innocent (Ascheid, 1999). Although Leander was not German, her double-image persona aligned with Nazi ideologies. In 1936, Leander was then signed off for a contract of three films by the German film industry, Ufa (Ascheid, 1999). She was also offered a reward of 200,000 Reichsmark (Ascheid, 1999). Leander’s first project with Ufa was for a film called Zu Neuen

As we look deeper into the historical contexts that came about in Germany during the 1920’s, Germany was confined due to the isolation the country was experiencing during World War I. During this solitude, the German government banned foreign films. German Expressionism was formed in result of the conclusion of World War I which compelled Germany to establish its own style of cinema. German Expressionist films produced in the Weimar Republic

In society, women are often perceived as the weaker sex, both physically and mentally. In modern times women have leveled the playing field between men and women, and feminism is a highly discussed topic, but for years, women faced discrimination and prejudice both in life and in the workplace, due to their sex. This way of thinking flooded into the world of film. In their works, the authors of each of the various sources address the limitations and liberations of women both on and off the screen in nineteenth century Film and Cinema. Not every source is completely filled with information related to the research topic, but they do cover and analyze many of the same points from different perspectives. Prominent points addressed in each