Assess Whether Riefenstahl Was An Artist Or Propagandist

Assess whether Riefenstahl was an artist or propagandist

Leni Riefenstahl is known as one of the best and pioneering actor and director of her time, but she is also has been criticised as being a Nazi propagandist and supporter. There are many points to support the argument that Riefenstahl was an artist and not a Nazi propagandist, she was not out of line with the rest of the population at the time, she always denied that she was a propagandist and she made very artist films and was a talented director/actor. But there are also strong arguments that Riefenstahl was a propagandist, she didn't leave the country when the terrible things happened and other artist did, she had a close relationship with Hitler and Riefenstahl's films conceded fully

At the time over 90% of the German people agreed with Hitler and the Nazis, it was not such a bad thing at the time to be working for Hitler and the films like Olympia and triumph of the will were received well by the general public. Themes of anti-Semitism and racial purity were not uncommon in 1934 Germany.

To her last days, Riefenstahl always disputed the significance of her role in promoting Nazi Germany. In memoirs and interviews, she claims she was never interested in politics, never a member of the Nazi Party she said: 'I was not a Communist. I was not a Nazi. I was an artist! I had no party" She maintained that it was simply a documentary, and claims her innocence in never realizing the effect that her films had on promoting the Nazi cause. She "didn't see the danger of anti- Semitism" and that "it had to film the way an artist, not a politician, sees

Riefenstahl displayed neither the intention nor the awareness to execute her works as propaganda for the Party. Hitler attempted to intervene in the production of Triumph of the Will so that party officials could be included. This was an offence to Riefenstahl’s artistic principles and she refused

Olympia- The film which most supports the argument of the artist theory is Olympia. The film is an impressive example of her ability to capture events as they happen, free of political or cultural influence. Black athlete Jesse Owens features prominently in Olympia despite Hitler’s overt disgust at his performance.

Riefenstahl did not leave the country when the terrible things happened and other artist did. It would have been hard not to notice the things changing for the worse in Germany. She would have been aware of the violence against political opponents and Jewish people. Other artists were leaving the country for America and Great Briton and Jewish artist were banned for making art and put in concentration camps. But Leni continued to stay and work under the Nazi