If you haven't seen all of Leni Riefenstahl's 'rock and snow' epics, then you might be inclined to like this one a lot more than me. However, I have seen them and after you've seen a couple, they tend to be VERY repetitive. On top of that, this film suffers from some seriously bad acting--so bad that it often overshadows the great cinematography.
Today, few would remember Leni Riefenstahl, but if they did, they'd probably only remember her as a director of the massive love letter to Hitler "Triumph of the Will". However, before she began directing, Riefenstahl was a huge film star in Germany and specialized in films made in the Alps. They must have been popular, because they made so many. Some of them are really amazing--some not. What you need to acknowledge, though, is that they were extremely difficult movies to film and had many hair-raising climbing scenes.
The film begins with two people. One is a child of nature (Riefenstahl) who dances about the shores and loves the valleys. She meets a man whose interests lie in the great heights of the mountains and he revels in the snow. Can these two people find love without some disaster befalling them? Well, if you ask the old lady in the film, she'll scream a definite NO--since, I assume, she'd read the screenplay. And, not surprisingly, disaster does occur--though Leni has nothing directly to do with it. I'd say more about the plot, but don't want to ruin it.
My biggest problem with the film is the direction given to Riefenstahl. During much of the film, she hops about in a diaphanous dress--dancing for no apparent reason. It's very artsy....but weird. And, when she emotes, she REAAALLY emotes!! Even compared to the over-emoting of the earlier 20th century silents, she's over-emoting--to the point of ridiculousness. Now I know she was a very good actress and have liked her other films--but here she simply is told to overdo it and she comes off very poorly. Not a terrible film but a poorly directed one in all of her scenes. As for the climbing and skiing portions, it's breathtaking.
Today, few would remember Leni Riefenstahl, but if they did, they'd probably only remember her as a director of the massive love letter to Hitler "Triumph of the Will". However, before she began directing, Riefenstahl was a huge film star in Germany and specialized in films made in the Alps. They must have been popular, because they made so many. Some of them are really amazing--some not. What you need to acknowledge, though, is that they were extremely difficult movies to film and had many hair-raising climbing scenes.
The film begins with two people. One is a child of nature (Riefenstahl) who dances about the shores and loves the valleys. She meets a man whose interests lie in the great heights of the mountains and he revels in the snow. Can these two people find love without some disaster befalling them? Well, if you ask the old lady in the film, she'll scream a definite NO--since, I assume, she'd read the screenplay. And, not surprisingly, disaster does occur--though Leni has nothing directly to do with it. I'd say more about the plot, but don't want to ruin it.
My biggest problem with the film is the direction given to Riefenstahl. During much of the film, she hops about in a diaphanous dress--dancing for no apparent reason. It's very artsy....but weird. And, when she emotes, she REAAALLY emotes!! Even compared to the over-emoting of the earlier 20th century silents, she's over-emoting--to the point of ridiculousness. Now I know she was a very good actress and have liked her other films--but here she simply is told to overdo it and she comes off very poorly. Not a terrible film but a poorly directed one in all of her scenes. As for the climbing and skiing portions, it's breathtaking.