Leni Riefenstahl Essay

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Helene Bertha Amalie Riefenstahl was born on the 22nd August 1902 in the working class Wedding district in Berlin. She was born at home and was called “Leni” from an early age. Her father, Alfred, was a wealthy businessman who dealt with heating and ventilation. As his business expanded, the family became firmly middle class. Her mother, Bertha, was the youngest of 18 children, and was a part-time seamstress, who had put aside hear dreams of becoming an actress to support her widowed father and later marry Alfred. Leni also had a brother, Heinz, who was three and a half years younger- and who would later die in Hitler’s war at the age of 38 on the Russian Front. The family bought a house an hour outside of Berlin which they would travel to on weekends, and this is how Leni developed a lifelong love of nature. As a child she enjoyed reading, painting, and dancing. Early on she decided to become a dancer and did intense training. By 1920 Leni was a successful dancer touring cities such as Munich, Dresden, Germany, Czechoslovakia; and Switzerland. By 1924 Riefenstahl's dance career was over after she suffered a serious knee injury. It was during her recovery period that her life changed forever, when she saw one of the popular mountain films of Arnold Fanck. She set out to meet Fanck, and he offered her an acting role in “Der Heilige Berg” (The Holy Mountain), which was received well by the public, and Leni made up her mind to stay with the idea of motion pictures. She made five more films over the next seven years with Fanck. She was often the only women in the crew, adding beauty and dangers to the films. Working on these films taught her all they would about camera work, directing and editing. In 1932 Leni was the central character, and directed “Das Blaue Licht” (The Blue Light)- which was based on a mountain legend and was shot in remote parts of the Tessin and

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