In 2018, 86 years have passed since the premiere of debut for Leni Riefenstahl as a director of the picture, in which Hungarian writer, film theorist and Ph.D. Bela Balazs participated as a co-author of the script and assistant. Reviews and reviews on the Blue Light are controversial among contemporaries. The fact is that Riefenstahl collaborated with Adolf Hitler.
Undeniable success
According to IMDb, the film Blue Light (1932) has a rating of 6.90. He firmly entered the history of cinema, repeatedly underwent an analysis of eminent filmmakers in an attempt to identify the hidden hidden meanings through the plot idea, the artistic techniques used. In American and European film schools and now on the technology of its shooting demonstration lectures are held.
The cult German cinematographer Leni Riefenstahl has two more famous works: Olimpia and Triumph of the Will, commissioned by the Fuhrer. From a visual point of view, they turned out to be so impressive that after the war the director was accused of complicity with the Nazis and forced to emigrate to Africa, where she filmed one of the original tribes.
In the movie "Blue Light" Riefenstahl performed in several roles: director, co-author of the script and the leading woman. After the premiere, the picture received praise in the press and was awarded the Venice Film Festival. Congratulatory telegrams, among other celebrities, were sent to Leni by Douglas Fairbanks and Charlie Chaplin himself. In London, Blue Light (1932) was shown in cinemas for 16, and in Paris for 14 months.
Production Features
It is difficult to fully appreciate the merit of the no less outstanding art worker Bel Balaz in the creation of the tape. The Hungarian writer not only wrote the script together with Riefenstahl and was an assistant director, for several September days he personally worked at the final stage of studio filming in Berlin. And then he left for Moscow. In February 1932, Balazs in writing asked Leni about the state of the production process. The director answers him that the editing doctor Dr. Frank almost brought her to a nervous breakdown. As a result, the film “Blue Light”, selected from Riefenstahl during the denazification period, the producer independently glued again from the fragments left after an unsuccessful installation.
Fantasy of the author
Leni Riefenstahl came to the cinema as an actress, her creative activity in the film industry began with the participation in the production of numerous projects of A. Funk, created in the subgenre of “German mountain cinema”. Funk was a follower of naturalistic filming, was not afraid to climb the mountain peaks with a load of movie equipment. It is not surprising that after a fruitful collaboration with the creator, the performer also “fell ill” with mountains. Largely thanks to the experience gained, the parable, a mountain legend invented by the actress, lies at the heart of Leni's debut directorial film production “Blue Light”.
Plot. Main intrigue
The action takes place in a foothill village, sheltered at the foot of the Italian Dolomites. In each full moon at the peak of Monte Crystal, a magnetic glow forms, causing confusion in the souls of old-timers and uncontrollably attracting young people. In an attempt to determine the cause of what is happening, many young men and women went to the mountains, but not a single one returned, everyone fell into the gorge and died. Once a young Viennese painter Vigo arrives in the village, who intentionally gets acquainted with the recluse Yunta living on the outskirts, who is reputed to be a holy fool among the local population. The girl is the only one to whom the summit submits, she knows the secret path.
Denouement. Caution - Spoiler
Secretly following a new acquaintance, Vigo learns that the veins of expensive crystal radiate radiance. He informs the villagers about his discovery, under his leadership the locals turn the source of supernatural superstitions into a means of enrichment. At the next full moon, the unsuspecting Yunta rises to the top, but due to the fact that there is no blue glow, the girl stumbles off the beaten track and falls into the abyss. The artist, indirectly guilty of her death, reproaches himself for not having time to warn the hermit, and mournfully bends over the face of the deceased, illuminated by moonlight.
Criticism
Naturally, the German author’s project, in addition to positive reviews, caused a flurry of negative criticism. The central organ of the KKE “Di Rote Fane” described “Blue Light” in its application as a romantically embellished film with a bias in the mythical. Critics wrote that "the beauty of the Balazh-Riefenstahl" is outdated, therefore, creates a dreamy mood, followed by an extremely tough awakening. Even more cynical, but extremely far-sighted, the print media Film Courier and Berliner Zeitung spoke about the project. Their authors stated that no trace of the “Marxist” tale was felt in the work, because the villagers had turned a miracle into money, so the picture should be considered a work of genuine German spirit and art.
In addition to the amazingly beautiful mountain panoramas, the director effectively used the artistic technique of the linguistic conflict. Something similar was exploited much later by independent American visionary Jim Jarmusch.
According to expert assessment, the main advantage of the picture should be considered the unity of the narrative, which is not violated by secondary side branches from the main story. Everything in the movie “Blue Light” is holistic and connected, based on the main leading action.
Fatal romantic drama
Many critics, analyzing the “Blue Light”, in the reviews focus on the symbolism of Riefenstahl's debut work. Indeed, the author seemed to foresee the trials prepared for her by fate. The main character of the film, divorced from reality, living in a world of dreams because of rejection by others, dies because her ideals are crumbling - in the movie they are symbolized by crystals of precious crystal. So Leni until the summer of 1932 also lived in a dream world ... She sincerely promoted fascism, naively believing that it would bring good and harmony to the world. In exactly the same way, Soviet filmmakers propagated communism with an open mind.
Even in his memoirs, Riefenstahl writes about how she realized the purely cinematic collapse of fascist Germany. In her dream, she saw fading Nazi banners that in the end became completely white.
An outstanding filmmaker of the twentieth century
Despite the controversial assessment of the contribution to the development of world cinema, Leni Riefenstahl is still an outstanding personality who has demonstrated her difficult life as a creator full of ups and downs. Human civilization is not so rich in talents that they can be ignored or scattered by, therefore Leni Riefenstahl should be remembered for a long time by the public with its inner “blue light”.