15,697
edits
Changes
no edit summary
Riefenstahl continued her Fascist themes long after the fall of the Third Reich. In 1974 she published a book of photography based on the lives of the African Nuba tribe. The natives depicted in “The Last of the Nuba” are men of physical perfection who are strong and virile. The women are present for breeding purposes only. The tribe is of course primitive and non-materialistic. They have been untainted by urban values and come from pure blood, tenets that were essential to Nazi ideology. Continuing with her Fascist theme was one particularly compelling photo of three Nuba men atop three separate tall rock formations. They were posed in dramatic fashion and possessed a look of athleticism, akin to her work on ''Olympia''. It is arguable that Riefenstahl, as an artist, was simply responding to an aesthetic. It is equally believable that Riefenstahl, as a Nazi, was continuing to propagate her Fuhrer’s ideologies. As was true of all her work, it was art. It was propaganda. A propagandist is not necessarily a criminal.
==== Conclusion ====
It is indisputable that Leni Riefenstahl was a brilliant artist, self-involved, and enamored with Hitler. When discussing Hitler in Muller’s documentary, she showed a wide smile when recounting her first meeting with him and never once denounced his actions or beliefs. She claimed that she was not proud of ''Triumph of the Will'', yet when discussing her editing process with Muller and viewing scenes from the film, she beamed with delight. She also told Muller that she did not know the film was about politics and stated that for all she cared it could have been about “fruits and vegetables.” In the same interview she said that she refused to make any ''further'' films that pertained to politics. A logical conclusion to be drawn from this statement is that one cannot refuse to do something a second time unless she was aware she did it the first time; therefore, Riefenstahl knew she had made a political film. Another conclusion to be made is that she was completely unconcerned with the fate of others. To her, “fruits and vegetables” and six million human beings were interchangeable. Her selfish apathy was appalling, most especially after her arrest when she was shown pictures of the victims at Dachau. When recounting this story for Muller she failed to mention the plight of the Jews or exhibit any sadness for these helpless victims. Her only sentiment was that her life had been shattered.
Leni Riefenstahl lived to be 101 years of age. She travelled the world and was emotionally intimate with one of the most horrific dictators history has ever known. Leni Riefenstahl was not a war criminal. She was an arrogant and jealous woman who was concerned with no one but herself. She was morally bankrupt and devoid of human emotion and enjoyed being blind to her surroundings. Ignorance, however intentionally assumed, is not a crime.
