The film "Blue Light", 1932: reviews and reviews

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

2018 marks 86 years since the premiere of Leni Riefenstahl's debut as director of the film, in which the Hungarian writer, film theorist and Ph. D. Bela Balazs participated as a co-writer and assistant. Reviews and reviews of the Blue Light among contemporaries are contradictory. The fact is that Riefenstahl collaborated with Adolf Hitler.

Undoubted success

According to IMDb, the film "Blue Light" (1932) has a rating of 6, 90. It has firmly entered the history of cinema, has been repeatedly analyzed by eminent filmmakers in an attempt to identify the underlying hidden meanings through the plot idea, the artistic techniques used. Demonstration lectures are still being held in American and European film schools on the technology of its shooting.

Cult German cinematographer Leni Riefenstahl has two more famous works: "Olympia" and "Triumph of the Will", commissioned by the Fuhrer. From a visual point of view, they were so impressive that after the war the director was accused ofcomplicity with the Nazis and was forced to emigrate to Africa, where she filmed one of the original tribes.

In the movie "Blue Light" Riefenstahl acted in several guises: director, co-writer and lead actress. After the premiere, the film received laudatory reviews 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) ran in theaters for 16 months and in Paris for 14 months.

Production Features

It is difficult to fully appreciate the merit of no less outstanding artist Bela Balazs in creating the tape. The Hungarian writer not only wrote the script with Riefenstahl and was an assistant director, he personally worked for several September days on the final stage of studio filming in Berlin. And then he left for Moscow. In February 1932, Balažs asked Leni in writing about the state of the production process. The director tells him that Dr. Frank, who is editing, has practically brought her to a nervous breakdown. As a result, the film Blue Light, taken from Riefenstahl during the denazification period, was glued together again by the director herself from scraps left after unsuccessful editing.

Author's fantasy

Leni Riefenstahl came to cinema as an actress, her creative activity in the film industry began with participation in the production of numerous projects by A. Funk,created in the sub-genre of "German mountain cinema". Funk was an adherent of naturalistic filming, he was not afraid to climb mountain peaks with a load of film equipment. It is not surprising that after a fruitful collaboration with the creator, the performer also fell ill with the mountains. Largely thanks to the experience gained, Leni's debut directorial film Blue Light is based on a parable, a mountain legend invented by the actress.

Story. Main intrigue

The action takes place in a foothill village nestled at the foot of the Italian Dolomites. On every full moon, a magnetic glow forms at the peak of Monte Cristal, causing confusion in the souls of the old-timers and irresistibly attracting the youth. In an attempt to determine the cause of what was happening, many young men and women went to the mountains, but not one returned, everyone fell into the gorge and died. One day, a young Viennese painter Vigo arrives in the village, who deliberately gets acquainted with the hermit Junta, who lives on the outskirts, and is known as a holy fool among the local population. The girl is the only one who has conquered the summit, she knows the secret path.

Decoupling. Attention - spoiler

Secretly following a new acquaintance, Vigo learns that veins of expensive crystal exude radiance. He informs the villagers about his discovery, under his leadership the locals turn the source of supernatural superstitions into a means of enrichment. On the next full moon, the unsuspecting Yunta rises to the top, but due to the fact that there is no blue glow, the girl strays off the beaten path.paths and falls into the abyss. The artist, indirectly responsible for her death, reproaches himself for not having time to warn the hermit, and mournfully bends over the moonlit face of the deceased.

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 The Blue Light in its appendix as a romantically embellished film with a mythical slant. Critics wrote that "beauty according to Balazs-Riefenstahl" is outdated, therefore it creates a dreamy mood, after which an extremely harsh awakening follows. Even more cynically, but extremely far-sighted, the printed publications Film Courier and Berliner Zeitung spoke about the project. Their authors stated that there is no trace of a "Marxist" fairy tale in the work, because the villagers minted a miracle into money, so the picture should be considered a work of genuine German spirit and art.

In addition to amazingly beautiful mountain panoramas, the director effectively used the artistic device of linguistic conflict. Something similar was exploited much later by independent American visionary Jim Jarmusch.

According to peer review, the main advantage of the picture should be considered the unity of the narrative, which does not violate the secondary side branches from the main story. Everything in the movie "Blue Light" is holistic and connected, based on the main leading action.

Fatally romanticdrama

Many film critics, analyzing "Blue Light", in their reviews focus on the symbolism of Riefenstahl's debut work. Indeed, the author seemed to have a premonition of the trials prepared for her by fate. The main character of the film, cut off from reality, living in a world of dreams because of the rejection of others, dies because her ideals are crumbling - in the movie they are symbolized by crystals of precious crystal. So Leni also lived in a world of dreams until the summer of 1932 … She sincerely promoted fascism, naively believing that it would bring goodness and harmony to the world. In the same way, filmmakers of the USSR propagandized communism with an open mind.

Even in her memoirs, Riefenstahl writes about how she realized purely cinematically the collapse of Nazi Germany. In her dream, she saw Nazi banners fading, turning completely white at the end.

Outstanding cinematographer of the 20th century

Despite the controversial assessment of his contribution to the development of world cinema, Leni Riefenstahl is still an outstanding personality who, with his life full of ups and downs, has demonstrated the difficult fate of the creator. Human civilization is not so rich in talents that they can be ignored or scattered, so Leni Riefenstahl should be remembered by the public for a long time with her inner “blue light”.