Riefenstahl, mostly

[davemarc]

At 06:01 PM 6/11/96 -0700, David Cassares wrote:
>
>Leni Riefenstahl, by the way, is utterly irrelevant to the discussion, 
>and to compare her to Spielberg, favorably or otherwise, is just weird.  
>She was a cinematic genius who has had enormous influence on every 
>moviemaker who came after; every Hollywood "epic" or "spectacular," for 
>instance, was overwhelmingly in her debt for all the great set-pieces.  
>This has to be acknowledged in spite of her Naziism. 

Not necessarily.  Riefenstahl made a few significant films, but her work
didn't spring out of an empty void.  There were Hollywood "epics" and
"spectaculars" well before she emerged from her mountain movies as a
moviemaker.  Frankly, I think the notion that she is a genius is extremely
arguable.  Perhaps if she had directed more films her genius would be more
evident.  

>But apart from her 
>general influence, Spielberg practices a completely different genre, 
>devoid of political or social awareness -- except, I gather, in 
>Schindler's list where he reached for some sort of statement about the 
>Holocaust and managed to expose his shallowness.

Maybe you too should give the film a look.  I'm not saying you'll love it,
but you may be surprised that it's not as bad as his previous films may lead
you to expect it to be.  As I believe I've written elsewhere, I think it
shows signs of progress.

Finally, if "shallowness" can be identified as a fault of Spielberg, I don't
see why those who feel that way and also seem to be familiar with
Riefenstahl's work don't describe her as one of the most shallow directors
of history.    

davemarc