It was precisely because of the recommendation of Lisa, the chief female reporter of "The Signal", and the participation of female director Leni Riefenstahl that the previous special shooting went smoothly. Coupled with the request for filming from the Imperial Ordnance and Munitions Department and the Imperial Transport Department, all participants received the maximum support from relevant departments. For example, by issuing a special pass, you can recruit trains for free, give priority to the right of way of the railway, etc.
Therefore, before leaving, the outline of the "Eastbound Plan" has emerged more and more clearly in the mind of female reporter Lisa.
"Eileen, I would like...to ask you to meet someone." After taking the final casting photos, female reporter Lisa spoke solemnly.
"I guess it's Leni." Female guerrilla Irene responded with a smile full of trust.
Regarding Leni Riefenstahl, her legendary career cannot be summarized by just a few simple terms such as director, actor, dancer, and photographer. She is the most famous and controversial figure in Germany in the 20th century. She is the only woman among the 100 most important artists of the 20th century selected by Time magazine.
In art, she is known as the "Mother of Documentary". The tree of life is evergreen. She learned to dive at the age of 72, photographed sharks at the bottom of the sea at the age of 94, and completed her last documentary at the age of 100. On the other side of history, she was known as a "Nazi accomplice" and was nailed to the pillar of shame in history. Hitler once affectionately called her: "My perfect German woman."
Her life has almost become a product of totalitarianism. So, when Jodie Foster, a two-time Oscar winner, had planned to direct and star in a biographical film about Leni Riefenstahl, and asked how to name the movie, Leni Riefen Stahl blurted out: "Be loved, be persecuted, and never be forgotten."
Leni Riefenstahl in history was born into a businessman family in Berlin, Germany, in 1902. She started attending art school when she was a teenager. When she was 16 years old, she saw an advertisement recruiting dancers and secretly signed up to take the exam without telling her family. . Although she was not selected, her interest in dance was aroused and she began to practice dance hard. In 1923, with the support of her father, Leni Riefenstahl held her first dance party in Berlin and it was a great success and she became a famous ballet dancer. However, the next year, during a solo dance tour in Prague, she broke her knee and her short-lived dance career ended prematurely.
At this moment, a movie poster in the subway station brought a new turn of fortune to Leleni Riefenstahl. This was based on the popular mountain movie "Mountain of Destiny" in Germany in the 1920s. Promotional poster, when Leni Riefenstahl came out of the cinema, she was fascinated by mountains and also fascinated by movies. She confidently wrote to director Arnold Fank, requesting to star in his next film "The Holy Mountain". Fank was the "father of mountain films" of that era. He was conquered by Leni's aggressive and persevering beauty and made her become "The Holy Mountain". The heroine of "The Holy Mountain".
Her breathtaking screen image conquered countless audiences and became a big star in mountain films, known as "Germany's Garbo". At the same time, Riefenstahl, who loved outdoor activities, also became a famous mountaineer. Hollywood director von Sternberg admired her very much and even said, "I can make you as world-famous as Dietrich." At this moment, another person who admired her more than Sternberg appeared. He was Adolf Hitler.
actually. Leni Riefenstahl was never satisfied with being an actress. She became interested in film production, and with her extremely high comprehension, she began to write her own scripts and engage in filming. In 1932, Riefenstahl directed, wrote, produced, and starred in the mountain film "Blue Light" which was released and won the Silver Award at the Venice Film Festival. It was in that year that she met Hitler.
With the full support of the head of state's "unlimited funds", Riefenstahl finally edited a four-hour masterpiece from 400 kilometers of material. "Triumph of the Will" portrayed Hitler as a saint who led the German people out of the Red Sea. Moses.
"In the following years, countless Germans sat in the cinema and watched this film with tears in their eyes. When they left the table and stood up, all of them believed that Hitler was a hero and the Messiah sent by God. . They were determined to do anything for him, including die generously - and many of their wishes came true. Over the next 10 years, the mustached man would direct them around the world and then die in North Africa. In Normandy, died in Stalingrad.”
From an aesthetic perspective alone, the images created by Leni Riefenstahl are truly unforgettable. In 1936, she filmed "Olympia", which described the 1936 Berlin Olympics, and won the gold medal at the Venice Film Festival. The film's technological innovations have always been considered one of the most important films in film history. The Los Angeles Times commented: "This film is a triumph of the camera and an epic of the screen."
After the end of World War II, Leni Riefenstahl was thrown into Allied prisons five times and spent three years in prison. During this period, she was hospitalized several times for mental illness. Until 1949, the former West German Denazification Committee The final trial ruled that Leni was a "Nazi sympathizer" rather than a "Nazi" and she was acquitted, but the overwhelming accusations have not stopped. Her critics called her an "immortal Nazi" and a Nazi propaganda machine. Those who appreciate her say, "Her genius is her tragedy, and her pursuit of ultimate beauty is a model for every filmmaker."
In this regard, Leni Riefenstahl could only reiterate over and over again: "I am just an artist. I don't care much about reality. I just want to retain all the beauty of the past." Since then, Leni Riefenstahl She has become a taboo in the film industry, and many film projects have been aborted, but she has always refused to apologize for her film creation, "I apologize for being born into this world... but I can't do it for filming " "Triumph of the Will," which won awards, as all my films have won."
Leni Riefenstahl was a person unwilling to be lonely in any situation. In 1956, after 20 years of no work, she went to Africa under the guidance of Hemingway's novels. Leni, who could not hold a camera, picked up a camera and went deep into Sudan. The Nuba tribe in the central part of the country experienced a traffic accident that almost cost their lives. They took photos of the weddings, funerals, hunting, tattoos, and wrestling of the Nuba people for more than ten years. She said: "I laughed more than ever when I was with the Nuba people. I made peace with myself." 1972, Leni Riefenstahl's African photography book "Nuba" Published, the aesthetic style that lamented the disappearance of primitive nature once again attracted widespread attention.
In 1971, the 71-year-old Riefenstahl lied that he was 51 years old and participated in underwater diving training. He went to photograph the underwater world as he wished, and published two illustrated books, "Coral Garden" and "Underwater". Wonders". For 30 years, she traveled to the underwater world in the Maldives, the Indian Ocean, the Red Sea, Papua New Guinea and other places, photographing the life activities of many rare and rare underwater creatures and recording the magnificent and beautiful underwater landscapes.
Leni was still learning how to operate the latest SONY professional equipment until she was 95 years old. She also completed the computer software for Apple's image processing by herself. At the age of 97, she took the camera crew to the war-torn Sudan. Due to the sudden change of the war, she was rushed to the emergency room during the evacuation. The plane crashed and she survived.
In 2002, when she was 100 years old, she finally completed her last documentary "Underwater Impressions", which was 45 minutes long and recorded the underwater scenes she shot while diving in the Indian Ocean from 1974 to 2000. The film was released in Berlin. At the beginning of the chapter, the 100-year-old lady wore exquisite makeup and told the camera about her shooting techniques and intentions. No matter how many wrinkles on her face, she could not block the vitality in her eyes, which was just like the radiant people under the camera. Like colorful tropical fish, it is dazzlingly beautiful. In the same year, Riefenstahl launched her personal memoir "Filtered Time", which she spent 10 years writing, at her 100th birthday reception.
Leni Riefenstahl passed away peacefully in her sleep on September 8, 2003, at the age of 101. Regarding her death, there is a saying: "She lived so long that people forget that she will die too."
In the world, countless places and countless people miss her in countless ways, or still question her.
