Was Leni Riefenstahl that good even for the time?

[Diabolical Materialism]

I've heard quite a few people drag out the line about how Leni Riefenstahl, although a Nazi, was a great filmmaker. I recall even Kubrick was an admirer of hers. But having seen both Triumph of the Will and Olympia I'm frankly unimpressed. I can appreciate for the time that those films were impressive and revolutionary in some of their techniques, but I feel like that is more the product of the budget and resources the Nazis gave her than any actual personal genius.

Is there something I'm missing? Apologies if this is the wrong board.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

I'm hardly an expert, but it's my understanding that Riefenstahl invented many of the techniques that are now the bread and butter of modern cinematography —in which case it's not terribly surprising that her films are less impressive to modern audiences than they were in the 1930s.

[Diabolical Materialism]

I'm hardly an expert, but it's my understanding that Riefenstahl invented many of the techniques that are now the bread and butter of modern cinematography —in which case it's not terribly surprising that her films are less impressive to modern audiences than they were in the 1930s.

That's a fair point. I may be looking at Riefenstahl from a perspective that is too grounded in modern movies. I do however enjoy 20s German Noir films and find them to be way more inventive than Riefenstahl's stuff.

[Tollen]

Riefenstahl helped murder expressionism.

[Diabolical Materialism]

Riefenstahl helped murder expressionism.

Did she? Or was she just a product of that murder?

[Samof94]

I'm hardly an expert, but it's my understanding that Riefenstahl invented many of the techniques that are now the bread and butter of modern cinematography —in which case it's not terribly surprising that her films are less impressive to modern audiences than they were in the 1930s.

Her work also hasn’t aged well due to the Holocaust.