Hitler arrives in Nuremberg 1934...the films of Leni Riefenstahl

[Daniel D. Teoli Jr.]

 

Leni Riefenstahl was quite a gal. Talented in many areas as well as sports.

 

 

She was a pig part of Hitler's propaganda movie machine. I have a couple of 16mm reels that I believe were part of her films. But I don't know which films they were from. Haven't dug that deep yet, they are still in storage.

In this clip from 'Triumph des Willens' aka 'Triumph of the Will' 1935 by Leni Riefenstahl, Hitler arrives by plane to a triumphant greeting from the people of Germany. 

Hitler Arrives in Nuremberg 1934 Leni Riefenstahl : D.D.Teoli Jr. A.C. : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

When you look around Nuremberg, think back how 95% of it was destroyed a few years later in WW2. Also notice some of the unique camera angles, the use of the plane shadow and close ups of people's faces that Riefenstahl used.

I will cut up some more clips from the film when I get time. 

Edited August 27, 2022 by Daniel D. Teoli Jr.

[Tyler Purcell]

Sweet! I'd love to see more, she's awesome. 

[Simon Wyss]

If only that awful Nuremberg could be buried. It’s Nürnberg, can’t be so hard to pronounce. Even we German speakers are learning that Ukraine’s capital is spoken Kyiv and not Kyeph which is Russian.

[Daniel D. Teoli Jr.]

11 hours ago, Simon Wyss said:

If only that awful Nuremberg could be buried. It’s Nürnberg, can’t be so hard to pronounce. Even we German speakers are learning that Ukraine’s capital is spoken Kyiv and not Kyeph which is Russian.

Every country pronounces thing differently. I think Japan is Nippon...but not sure. It is hard to know all the facts unless you are a native. And things change over time due to social mores. For instance, the Laplanders, I've read, now take offense to the name. And I've been told Eskimo is an offensive word now. 

Internet:

Both Nippon and Nihon literally mean "the sun's origin", that is, where the sun originates, and are often translated as the Land of the Rising Sun. This nomenclature comes from Imperial correspondence with the Chinese Sui Dynasty and refers to Japan's eastern position relative to China.

The origin of the name Japan is not certain, but researchers say it probably came from the Malayan ″Japung″ or the Chinese ″Riben,″ meaning roughly land of the rising sun. Historians say the Japanese called their country Yamato in its early history, and they began using Nippon around the seventh century.

 

[Daniel D. Teoli Jr.]

12 hours ago, Tyler Purcell said:

Sweet! I'd love to see more, she's awesome. 

 

Here are a few more clips of Riefenstahl's work. Have maybe another 3 - 5 clips to do.

 

 Internet Archive Search: Leni Riefenstahl Teoli

 

I guess there was some controversy over Riefenstahl's work. Some critics saying it is only propaganda and not documentary. Well, it can be both. It is a propaganda film that has documentary and historical value as well. I never get caught into those debates. Almost any record we have going back in time has historical value.

 

Years ago, on a photo forum, they were debating whether it was good shooting photos of atrocities for fun like the Nazis sometimes did. They discussed something like it depended on the person's motives or if they had a 'good' heart, as to whether they would give their blessings to it. Or in later years like some people do now on the internet broadcasting gore. 

 

Well, good heart or motive has nothing to do with it. The material is all part of history, and the historical record does not need approval from anyone nor does the creator of the material need a good heart to make it of historical importance. The motives and heart are all separate issue, unless it is all a lie. But even if a lie, it can still have documentary value for the parts that are true.

[Daniel D. Teoli Jr.]

That Riefenstahl was a helluva rock climber. Here she is in The Great Leap 1927.

The Great Leap Leni Riefenstahl 1927 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

[Daniel D. Teoli Jr.]

Some clips of Riefenstahl's early work...

 Clips Of Nazi Germany Leni Riefenstahl : D.D.Teoli Jr. A.C. : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

Here are a few screenshots I made of Riefenstahl working. Gives you an idea of the cameras they used , dolly work, direction, etc.

 

 

 

[Tyler Purcell]

2 hours ago, Daniel D. Teoli Jr. said:

Here are a few screenshots I made of Riefenstahl working. Gives you an idea of the cameras they used , dolly work, direction, etc.

Where are those clips from? The linked file is not the same. 

[Daniel D. Teoli Jr.]

18 hours ago, Tyler Purcell said:

Where are those clips from? The linked file is not the same. 

You mean the stills?

They are still from a movie called: The Wonderful, Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl

The movie clips have nothing to do with the screenshot stills. Two separate things. Just too bad you can't get any decent photos of her working. Just low-res garbage. Still, something is better than nothing.

 

Edited September 11, 2022 by Daniel D. Teoli Jr.

[Tyler Purcell]

Dang! Yea it really sux. I wonder who owns the film

[Daniel D. Teoli Jr.]

On 9/12/2022 at 1:11 AM, Tyler Purcell said:

Dang! Yea it really sux. I wonder who owns the film

 

Dunno. It is top secret, I guess. My Archive is not stingy like other Archives. I share high-res material...if I have it. Others are not like that. I modeled my Archive after the 'old' Getty Museum open content digital collection. The 'new' Getty open content offerings are just a fraction of the res they used to offer. The L.O.C. is another mess to deal with, but I won't go into that here.

I was excited to find some photos of Riefenstahl at the National Archives. But they were the worst of the bunch. It was like 9kb...that is KB! Maybe you could make a postage stamp from it.

I will be putting up a film by Riefenstahl called Day of Freedom Our Armed Forces P1 & P2. It was lost until the 1970's when a partial copy surfaced. I think about a third of the film is still lost. When I get a copy of Olympia I will cut some clips from it. 

I'm finishing up a project scanning thousands of pages of old Sotheby's photograph auction catalogs for the Archive. One sale had a photo from Olympia by Riefenstahl of a diver coming off a high dive with the sky as background. I think the estimate was $100,000 to $150,000. I will have to find it. Too bad I didn't mark the spot. Too bad Riefenstahl didn't collect the proceeds. I'm sure she could have used it, being blackballed.

From looking at the documentary about her, she was not living high on the hog. She said she was blackballed due to her Hitler movie making connection; although she said she was not in the Nazi party and just a filmmaker. She was scuba diving at 90 and taking underwater photos!

 

Edited September 13, 2022 by Daniel D. Teoli Jr.