Leni: The Life and Works of Leni Riefenstahl

This past spring you may recall that a dumb-ass attending a pro-Tibet rally held a sign asking "Would We Have Allowed Nazi Germany to Host the Olympics"? Apparently this person did not see "Olympia," Leni Riefenstahl's legendary documentary on the 1936 Olympics in Munich. I recently had a chance to read a thought-provoking biography on Leni Riefenstahl by Steven Bach. Although Refenstahl insisted after the war she was an apolotical artist unaware of Nazi atrocities, Bach demonstrates her complicity through exhaustive research. For instance, her name appears on contracts that call for the use of unpaid Gypsy extras from detention camps for her Reich-funded film Tielfland, and she was photographed at the scene of a Nazi massacre in Poland.

After the war Riefenstahl felt unfairly judged when shunned by the movie industry. However her artistic drive and narcissism enabled her to forge a career that lasted almost until her death at 101 years of age. The extent to which she put her artistic vision above human morality is deplorable, but even Bach, who barely contains contempt for his biography subject, marvels at her defiance of old age. The same insatiable sex drive that compelled her to sleep with practically every man on set carried through to her later years, when she engaged in a long-term relationship with a man 40 years her junior. While in her eighties she lied about her age to obtain a scuba license to film a series of underwater films.

There is no denying that Reifenstahl was one of the great filmakers of all time, and the fact that she achieved this in a male-dominated industry makes her feat all the more remarkable. Nevertheless, Bach's book inspires debate on the extent to which we can separate the artist from their art. Though Back acknowledges Reifenstahl's genius, he is not deluded by her false protestations of innocence and self-serving persecution complex.

I'm Mad As Hell and I'm Not Going to Take it Anymore!

Last night I had friends over for movie night. No one had any good DVD offerings so we ended up watching the 1976 film "Network" instantly on Netflix. Network easily makes my list of top ten films. I even sampled some of its dialog for my 1998 CD Slice.

Howard Beale is a newsman whose mental breakdown is inadvertently televised. The network initially fires him but then gives him his own TV show once it is evident that his psychotic rantings and ravings generate high ratings. Faye Dunaway plays Diana, an uptight, ruthless programming vice president whose pet project is developing a TV series to broadcast the terrorist activities of a black militant group. She also monitors the success of Beale's sermons, and is thrilled when Americans across the country open their windows and scream "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore!!!" at the urging of a frenzied Beale.

Howard Beale eventually gets in trouble with the network when he rails against the multinational corporation that is attempting to assume ownership. The resulting reprimand from the head honcho, Arthur Jensen, is one of the most chilling and portentious monologues in cinema:

There are no nations; there are no peoples. There are no Russians. There are no Arabs. There is no third world. There is no west. There is only one holistic system of systems; one vast interwoven, interacting, multivariate multinational dominion of dollars. Petrodollars, electrodollars, reichmarks, rubles, rin, pounds and shekels. It is the international system of currency that determines the totality of life on this planet. That is the natural order of things today. That is the atomic, subatomic and galactic structure of things today. It is the international system of currency that determines the totality of life on this planet. That is the natural order of things. You have meddled with the primal forces of nature, and you will atone! Am I getting through to you, Mr. Beale? You get up on your little twenty-one inch screen and howl about America and Democracy. There is no America. There is no democracy. There is only IBM and ITT and AT &T and Dupont, Dow, Union Carbide and Exxon. Those are the nations of the world today.

Even though its portrayal of the dire consequences of corporate media ownership has been eclipsed by reality, Network still holds up well 32 years later.

Parlez vous francais?

Like many gay Americans I have been patiently waiting for season 3B of South of Nowhere. I had pre-ordered season 3's 16 episodes on iTunes last year, but the show went on hiatus after the first 8 episodes aired last fall. In February of this year it was announced that season 3 will be the series' last, despite fan protests. Viacom's The N has been a tease about when it will be airing the final episodes. They showed promos in March promising an April return, but have now postponed 3B until September. Meanwhile, the episodes are airing in France!!! It is kind of hot seeing Spashley dubbed in French though.

Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Thursday an ultrasound indicated that my cat has cancer. Fortunately I had booked Friday off work so I wouldn't have to worry about getting choked up in my windowless beige cube. To get my mind off things I went to a matinée showing of Woody Allen's latest film Vicky Cristina Barcelona. If you were to guess that the deciding factor in today's film selection is that it features Scarlett Johansson and Penélope Cruz making out you would be correct!! However the film has so much more to offer.

Johansson plays Cristina, an impulsive romantic who takes an extended summer trip to Barcelona with her more restrained friend Vicki. Vicki is writing her thesis on Catalan culture and is engaged to a boring man back in New York, which prompts her to thwart the advances of a sexy Spanish painter who tries to pick up the pair for a threesome. Both women eventually end up sleeping with him individually. Vicki's night of passion leaves her wondering if she can live happily-ever-after with Mr. Boring. Cristina ends up moving in with the painter, when his ex-wife, a Latina version of the tasmanian devil played by Penelope Cruz, descends into their lives.

The film is well worth seeing on the big screen for the gorgeous footage of Barcelona and its architecture. And no one else can capture the nuances of unbearable yuppie dinner conversation like Woody Allen. Here is the trailer:

The World Unseen

I missed the Reel Affirmations film festival in DC last October because of two annoyances: 1) boneheaded bureaucrats in Montgomery Country forced me out of my apartment because of a housing code violation and 2) I had to attend a work conference at a god-forsaken industrial park in Austin, Texas. In fact I spent my birthday at the Austin airport eating a pulled-pork taco. But I digress. This year I am making it a point to attend Reel Affirmations because there is a must-see film on this year's roster: The World Unseen. Shamim Serif wrote the screenplay and directed this film based on her 2001 novel. It stars Bollywood sensation Lisa Ray and the adorable Sheetal Sheth. Ray plays Miriam, an Indian woman living in 1950's South Africa in an arranged marriage who falls for the free-spirited Amina. The trailer is below.

And if that isn't enough to look forward to, Shamim Serif has a second film in the works in which Ray and Sheth are coupled. This time the story takes place in London and Jordan. Read more about "I Can't Think Straight" here and watch the trailer, which features steamy scenes between the two actresses with Goldfrapp playing in the background. Yow.

UPDATE: Enlightenment Productions, Shamin Serif's production company, saw this post and sent me the following info:

"We also have theatrical release dates for both films in limited N. American cities; The World Unseen will be out late October and I Can't think Straight will follow soon after in November."

Check out The World Unseen on Facebook and MySpace.