The Wonderful, Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl Movie Review

The Wonderful, Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl - Movie Review Example She was, in other words, a wonderful filmmaker and an admirable survivor, whose fatal flaw was a horrible sense of judgment and an even more horrible tendency to glorify power, irrespective of the ideology it represented. "The Wonderful, Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl" compels mixed reactions to its protagonist, evoking both admiration and aversion towards Riefenstahl. In one of the scenes, she is depicted as walking on a pier, carrying her own, undoubtedly heavy, scuba diving gear. Her much younger companions are walking ahead of her and neither offers to help her with her equipment and, indeed, her demeanour suggests that she would have rejected any offers of help. This scene would not have been remarkable were it not for the fact that Riefenstahl was over 90 at the time. This scene, which only occupies a few moments in a very lengthy three hour documentary, captures the essence of the woman. She is not one to concede to weaknesses, human frailties and recognises absolutely no boundaries or limitations. Had she done so, she would not have been directing an underwater documentary at the age of 91. Hence, in this single scene the filmmakers do more than countless verbal testimonies could have ever done - they show the audiences who Riefenstahl is and, who she is evokes admiration. While it exposes her admirable qualities, the film exposes an infinitely less attractive dimension to Riefenstahl's personality. She is self-defensive and over-brimming with self-justification, not to mention unwaveringly unapologetic about the services she rendered to, or her association with, Hitler and the Nazi party. The film shows her defending the association and services in artistic and professional terms; she was not a member of the Nazi Party and did not touch upon anti-Semitism in her work. In her defence and self-justification, Riefenstahl seemingly deliberately overlooks, as Downing (2008: para 1) points out, the propagandist nature of her "Triumph of Will," and the extent to which it affected mass perceptions of Hitler as a national hero and Nazism as the answer to all of Germany's problems. Her defence of her works, as presented in the documentary, indicates that either Riefenstahl did not understand the consequences of her propagandist documentaries, which is hardly be lievable, or quite unapologetically believes that the end justifies the means. In the final analysis, the documentary is objective. It presents both sides of Leni Riefenstahl and, more importantly, allows her to speak for herself. In so doing, it gives the audience the opportunity to witness the good and the bad and, accordingly, arrive at their own judgement. If that judgement is not in Riefenstahl's favour that is not because of the filmmakers' prejudices but because of Riefenstahl's presentation of her own self. Works Cited Downing, T. (2008) "Nazis and the Cinema." History Today, 58(3), 63. Rentschler, E. (1985) "The Use and Abuse of Memory: New German Film and the Discourse of Bitburg." New German Critique, 36, 67-91. Tegel, S. (2006) "Leni Riefenstahl: Art and Politics." Quarterly Review of Film & Video, 23(3),

Economic Geography Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 2

Economic Geography - Essay Example The most important factor, after taking into account the use of technology, is the availability of labor at reasonable cost. The main reason for outsourcing American businesses, including manufacturing, has been the relative lesser cost of production. This was due to the availability of labor in countries like China at a friction of American cost. Apart from this, available of quality services at the selected location is another factor, which manufacturers would like to consider. The other factors that go into making manufacturing location decisions include, business environment, easy access to raw material and components, overall quality of life at he selected location and marketability of the finished goods. Availability of labor This is related to the type of goods to be manufactured. For products, which require quantity output in limited time, the manufacturing becomes labor-intensive with high turnout, to achieve bigger sales volumes. In such cases, locations that can provide la bor at considerably lesser cost remain the favorite of any manufacturer. This was the case of China getting most of the world’s manufacturing business, about two decades ago. ... American manufacturers are finding it difficult to maintain their facilities, as the cost advantage is vanishing. This is truer for high turnout goods.(Hanink) The case of Foxconn manufacturing facility in China is an ideal example of the labor cost relation with the manufacturing location. China never wanted to display the living conditions of its citizens, particularly the factory workers. However, these conditions have been worse, if not inhumane. People had to huddle together for sleep in bunkers and dormitories. Wages like $400 per month were paid to a worker who would put around 50 hours a week on the plant job. People would go to market in factory uniform only. Foxconn recruited most of its interns and apprentices from the boys belonging to age group of 14-15 years, to reduce further the cost of labor.(Fallows) However, things are changing in China very rapidly. With the living conditions, as detailed above, reports of suicide attempts were frequent. That was the reason for Fo xconn to introduce†suicide nets† for prevention of such attempts. Things could not be stopped there. The factory owners had to increase wages three to four times during last three years. It has created serious problems for the manufacturers and exporters. Chinese goods have been selling throughout the world, due to their lower prices. That advantage is now vanishing. American manufacturers are feeling the cost pinch from such outsourced units. Labor is available at competitive cost in America now. Reverse shifting has begun.(Fallows) Technology plays an important role in availability of adequate services The manufacturing activities for new start-ups relate to an idea, which is converted into the marketable product. In older days, the original idea