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Leni Riefenstahl: Ethics of an Auteur (THOMAS DOHERTY, Chronice of Higher Education)

If her luck holds, and it always has, the most controversial filmmaker of the last century will celebrate her own centennial with the premiere of her latest, and presumably last, motion picture. On August 22, the release of Impressions Under Water, a 45-minute documentary shot beneath the Indian Ocean, will coincide with the 100th birthday of its remarkable creator. Yet the event will inspire no tribute from the American Film Institute, no highlight reel at the next Academy Awards ceremony, and no commemorative box set of classic hits issued simultaneously on VHS and DVD. Whores and old buildings may gain respectability over time, but the almost defiant longevity of the Nazi director Leni Riefenstahl has yet to improve her bad reputation.

She must feel right at home again in today's Europe. Posted by Orrin Judd at August 6, 2002 08:22 AM