Leni Riefenstahl, the woman known as "Hitler's filmmaker," made some of the greatest and most innovative documentaries ever made. They are also insidious glorifications of Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich. Now, Steven Bach reveals the truths and lies behind Riefenstahl's lifelong self-vindication as an apolitical artist who claimed to know nothing of the Holocaust and denied her complicity with the criminal regime she both used and sanctified.
A riveting and illuminating biography of one of the most fascinating and controversial personalities of the twentieth century.

Reviews

German director Leni Riefenstahl (1902-2003) had 101 years to construct her legend, which she did in part with an autobiography that was roundly denounced as self-serving and generally a tissue of lies. The effort to get to the truth of her controversial life has resulted most recently in Danish author Jurgen Trimborn's Leni Riefenstahl: A Life and this work by Bach (film studies, Columbia Univ./Bennington Coll.; Marlene Dietrich: Life and Legend). As others have before him, Bach traces Riefenstahl's career as dancer, actress (in German mountain films), director, and Nazi propagandist (something Riefenstahl always disputed) as well as her final reinvention as a respected photographer. He also attempts to delve into her psyche for insights into her actions, and he does so very convincingly in many instances. For example, his explanation of how one of her famous film roles reflects her desire to be seen as a misjudged innocent and a victim of the jealousy of others seems right on. Whether or not Bach has succeeded in solving the mystery that was Leni Riefenstahl is open to debate, but he has produced a most compelling narrative. Recommended for all collections. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 11/1/06.]-Roy Liebman, Los Angeles P.L. Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.

Tiefenthaler, an actress and writer of Austrian descent, was raised and educated in England, but her reading of Bach's biography of the famed and reviled Nazi filmmaker betrays a puzzling lack of familiarity with the rhythms of the English language. Her fruity accent notwithstanding, Tiefenthaler delivers a halting performance, pausing in the middle of linked phrases, or unexpectedly extending a sentence, as if she had not realized that further work remained to be done. The reading of an audiobook should be fluid, as if the reader was the composer of the book, intimately familiar with each and every word. Tiefenthaler evokes images of a reader squinting at a piece of paper, attempting to suss out the words on the fly, and the results cannot help detracting from Bach's solid work. Available as a Knopf hardcover (Reviews, Jan. 29). (June) Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.

"Brilliant. . . . It's difficult to overpraise Bach's efforts. . . . A compulsively readable and scrupulously crafted work . . . . [Bach created] an almost novelistically compelling narrative of a life endlessly obfuscated by lies."
--"The Los Angeles Times Book Review"
"Energetic . . . Serves as [a] much needed corrective to all the spin, evasions and distortions of the record purveyed by Riefenstahl."
--"The New York Times"
"Fascinating. . . . The definitive new biography from Steven Bach should silence any lingering Riefenstahl apologists. . . . [He] bravely sorts through the mountain of falsehoods." --"Film Comment"
"Fascinating. . . . "Leni" is a cautionary tale about an artist whose prodigious determination and ambition seem to have been unmediated by the slightest influence of conscience, soul, or heart."
--"O, The Oprah Magazine"