One of my biggest complaints I have about biographies and biopics is that they are way too brief and tend to skip a lot of important material. Fortunately, this documentary about the controversial and long-lived film star and director, Leni Riefenstahl, is not short--clocking in at well over three hours! It certainly can't be seen as incomplete! The only question, then, is would the average person find it worth designating a huge block to time to just one documentary? Read on and see.

The first thing I noticed was that at 90 years of age, Ms. Riefenstahl was amazingly lucid and full of life...and well-preserved. So, most of the film consisted of her talking about her life--and it was not just a lot of old film with narration. I also noticed that the film makers did a good job of assembling old silent film footage from her films--all with excellent prints and properly tinted. This didn't surprise me too much, as I've seen most of the existing films of Riefenstahl and knew that good copies existed--I am just glad that the film makers didn't use the usual scratchy film footage.

Next came the most anticipated portion of the documentary--Riefenstahl's involvement with the Nazis and the filming of her brilliantly artistic "Triumph of the Will". At times, Riefenstahl was amazingly candid while at other times she talked as if she was only a detached outsider and not one of those responsible for the almost god-like image of Hitler. Interestingly, as times she got angry and insisted she was apolitical despite this tribute film. This was where it got VERY interesting! All these denials and minimizations contrasted with her brilliantly composed shots from "Triumph". Occasionally, her arguments made sense...while at others you marveled at how she seemed to delude herself and minimize her contributions.

The film continues by discussing Riefenstahl's other pre-war and wartime films as well as her trial during the de-Nazification period. However, this only took her up to the middle of her life. What's interesting, then, is how she spent her final decades. Instead of either a glowing film career or spending the rest of her life in hiding, Riefenstahl did NOT sit still but spent this period living among tribes in Southern Sudan and scuba diving--getting certified at age 70 and continuing to diving at age 90. What happened after that is not covered, as the film ended at this point--yet this incredibly interesting and flawed woman continued to live for more than a decade longer! Overall, this was a sweeping film that managed to both confront Reifenstahl AND praise her--an odd combination to say the least. Though, of course, Reifenstahl was no ordinary person. Fascinating from start to finish.

"Die Macht der Bilder: Leni Riefenstahl" or "The Wonderful, Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl" is a co-production by several European countries that resulted in a German-language documentary back in 1993, so this one will soon have its 25th anniversary. At that point, German actress and filmmaker was around the age of 90 and still live on for over 10 years afterward. At one point in the film, she calls death a salvation for her, but she still needed to wait for quite a while. The writer and director is Ray Müller and this is his most known work, not only because of the subject, but also because of the awards attention it received. This documentary runs for a massive three hours and there are basically two things in here: old footage and new recordings. The former, of course, is taken from Riefenstahl's films in front of and behind the camera and we also see some scenes with the high-profile Nazi politicians. The new footage are all interviews with Riefenstahl about her work and especially about the political context she lived in being Hitler's favorite filmmaker.

It was very easy to see how much she was still suffering from her past and that the lasts half hour is what she enjoyed the most, when Müller reports on her more recent work in Africa and under the sea as there is no dark connection attached to these movies. About her work from the first half of the 20th century, there obviously is and Riefenstahl keeps justifying and explaining it with the crucial difference between art and politics and how she cannot be blamed for the intentions Hitler and Goebbels had for their films. She was just a tool used by them (and it was impossible to refuse pretty much) and she tried to deliver still as a creative filmmaker. The truth is certainly in-between there somewhere, even if I must say that after watching this film it is difficult to really blame Riefenstahl for anything and lets be honest here: Isn't it already punishment how her name will be linked for ever to the Nazi regime and their horrible crimes and at least, she did not make any of these concentration camp film or the truly antisemitic ones like other German filmmaker. There were moments during these three hours where I felt that she was probably not entirely honest. For example, I don't believe Goebbels was lying in his diary about Riefenstahl being a frequent guest at the homes of Goebbels and Hitler, which is one of the most tense moments of the film when we see Riefenstahl truly in anger. Then again, she is right that Goebbels was a perfect liar, so who knows.

All in all I enjoyed the watch. I don't think it is a film that will really get you interested in the subject of filmmaking, Nazi Germany and the controversial character Leni Riefenstahl. You already need to have an interest before to really appreciate this one. The one thing I was missing a bit was a more personal take on Riefenstahl's private and family life, which was missing entirely. But maybe Riefenstahl did not want it to be a part of this documentary and you cannot really blame her or Müller or anybody else for not elaborating on this area at all. It's also not necessary to turn this one into a success. Thumbs up from me. Go see it.

Remarkably in-depth, objective documentary about Leni Riefenstahl which covers her life journey from her early days as a dancer and a star of mountain-climbing adventure films to her latter-day fascination with primitive African tribes and the underwater flora and fauna. Of course the bulk of the film focuses on her famous Nazi-period documentaries, "Triumph of the Will" and "Olympia". Although this project was obviously completed with Riefenstahl's collaboration, it does not shy away from her naivete and contradictions; on the other hand, it presents an extensive account of her technical innovations, and makes sure to clear in our minds the chasm between the aesthetic perfection she tried to achieve in her art, and the "master race" ideals of Hitler and his Party. It's a very long film (3 hours),but most worthwhile if you're at all interested in the subject. *** out of 4.