Wonderful, Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl 1993

The Wonderful, Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl

Critics Consensus

Leni Riefenstahl reflects on her own Wonderful, Horrible Life in this absorbing documentary, which contends with the contradiction of the awful power that great art can hold.

87%

Audience Score

User Ratings: 833

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The Wonderful, Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl Photos

The Wonderful, Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl (1993)

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Movie Info

Ray Müller directs this extensive documentary on the life of Nazi propaganda filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl. Created at the behest of Riefenstahl, the film honestly delves into her association with Hitler and the extent to which she knows of the Nazi Party's entire strategy. It also gives a fuller picture of Riefenstahl's life, discussing her ascent from dancer to documentary filmmaker, as well as her post-Nazi work, which includes nature filmmaking and photography.

Genre:

documentary
Original Language:

German
Director:

Ray Müller
Producer:

Jacques de Clercq, Waldemar Januszczak, Hans Peter Kochenrath, Hans-Jürgen Panitz, Dimitri de Clercq
Runtime:

3h 2m
Sound Mix:

Mono

Cast & Crew

Leni Riefenstahl
Herself

Ray Müller
Director

Ray Müller
Writer

Jacques de Clercq
Producer

Waldemar Januszczak
Producer

Hans Peter Kochenrath
Producer

Show all Cast & Crew

Critic Reviews for Wonderful, Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl

All Critics (23) | Top Critics (6) | Fresh (22) | Rotten (1)

... it is her unforgettable and, for many, unforgivable achievements in behalf of Hitler that give the program its force.

December 9, 2017 | Full Review…

Walter Goodman
New York Times
This is more often self-portrait than portrait; like Hitler in Riefenstahl's Triumph of the Will, she's presented as a fully formed deity without family background or ideology save a reverence for beauty and strength.

March 14, 2007 | Full Review…

Jonathan Rosenbaum
Chicago Reader
Sometimes clunky but consistently fascinating.

August 30, 2004 | Rating: 3.5/5 | Full Review…

Vincent Canby
New York Times
Overly long, but fascinating.

January 1, 2000 | Full Review…

Desson Thomson
Washington Post
Highly recommended.

January 1, 2000 | Rating: 3.5/5 | Full Review…

Marc Savlov
Austin Chronicle
This movie is fascinating in so many different ways: As the story of an extraordinary life, as the reconstruction of the career of one of the greatest of film artists, as the record of an ideological debate, as a portrait of an amazing old woman.

January 1, 2000 | Rating: 3.5/4 | Full Review…

Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
A riveting docu about the controversial filmmaker who made some great propaganda art for Hitler

July 25, 2011 | Rating: B | Full Review…

Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com
Overlong examination of the life of an enigmatic, willful, disengenuous, fascinating, influential and enormously gifted filmmaker.

March 19, 2009 | Rating: B | Full Review…

Robert Roten
Laramie Movie Scope
Fascinating documentary about controversial director Len Riefenstahl.

January 27, 2009 | Rating: 3/5

Beth Accomando
KPBS.org
Quote not available.

September 13, 2007 | Rating: 5/5

Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com
A riveting and encyclopaedic biography of an extraordinary woman. But it also poses heavy questions. Can art ever be isolated from its political context? Are Riefenstahl's claims about her political innocence valid?

March 14, 2007 | Full Review…

Film4
Mueller's dialectical approach allows him to expose many half-truths (and a few outright lies) by adducing contrary evidence; by the film's end, Riefenstahl's apologia emerges clearly as an elaborate mythification of self and history.

March 14, 2007 | Rating: 3.5/4 | Full Review…

TV Guide

View All Critic Reviews (23)

Audience Reviews for Wonderful, Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl

Oct 22, 2016

An overlong but fascinating documentary about this remarkable filmmaker who mastered her techniques better than many directors, yet not only was limited as an artist (in terms of ideals) but also spent her life denying her guilt for collaborating with a genocidal regime.

Carlos M Super Reviewer