Leni Riefenstahl: The fallen film goddess

by Glenn B. Infield

The Fallen Film Goddess; The Intimate and Shocking Story of Adolf Hitler and Leni Riefenstahl

Genres: History

278 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 1976

Reviews

[Zachary]

Infield's book starts off with a fascinating premise of trying to get at the underlying question of morality and art in the filmmaking of Leni Riefenstahl. Quickly, though, it loses focus on those very engaging questions to instead cursorily glance at them while also engaging in some gossip rag-style speculations about her life and relationships and getting lost in focusing on other members of the German filmmaking scene during the time of the Third Reich. There are times that the book regains its focus and provides some fascinating documentation to question and undermine Riefenstahl's public statements about her role in the Nazi party, and the concluding chapter ends with some sharp condemnation of the same. But the value of this content (and it is valuable) does not necessarily cancel out the sections that are more biographical than the introduction makes it seem like the book will be. For the nuggets of insight and fantastic documentation about Riefenstahl's films and career, this is a great book; the rest of it reads like an expose, though, and not a particularly engaging one.

[Debbie]

Although an interesting read, Infield's style of writing was at times annoying - especially his constant describing of Riefenstahl in sexual terms, which was unnecessary. After the first couple of times, the reader understands that she was beautiful, sensual, etc. Additionally, Infield made numerous factual mistakes. That said, it was a useful read for those unfamiliar with Riefenstahl, her life, and works.