Wege zu Kraft und Schönheit

While Arnold Fanck's 1926 film, Der heilige Berg, is most often referred to as Leni Riefenstahl's début on the silver screen, there is substantial evidence that she had pursued movie roles much earlier than this, and had actually appeared in at least one film, namely, Nicholas Kaufmann and Wilhelm Prager's Wege zu Kraft und Schönheit (for reference, see the article included in this section, Leni Riefenstahl's Film Début). It should be noted, however, that her appearance in this film would have been as little more than an extra, performing a non-speaking part as just one of many other dancers featured in the film, and thus it could still be reasonably stated that her role as Diotima in Der heilige Berg was indeed her first "real" role of any genuine significance in any feature film. Yet, the minor part that she played in Wege zu Kraft und Schönheit does remain noteworthy from the perspective of "trivia" and, if only for historical accuracy's sake, certainly merits inclusion in the present filmography of Leni Riefenstahl at this site.

Synopsis

Since this film has yet to be released on VHS or DVD, and celluloid prints are extremely scarce and not readily accessible, a detailed scene-by-scene synopsis of the film is currently unavailable. However, from a variety of sources (such as the Illustrierter Filmkurier, books, magazine articles, etc.) a general description is possible.

Although ultimately credited to Nicholas Kaufmann and Wilhelm Prager, Wege zu Kraft und Schönheit was originally the brainchild of playwright Friedrich Wolf (who also later contributed to the script for Arnold Fanck's 1933 film, SOS Eisberg). He first had the idea in 1920 to "...make an educational film for physical education classes in schools [which would] show the development of gymnastics from ancient physical culture to modern physiotherapy and sport." Although the film would not come to realization until 1925, it featured sporting/gymnastic themes, impressionist dance, as well as reenactments of various Greco-Roman scenes, and it was also the first major feature film to show nudity.

Image Galleries

• Selected Production Stills from Wilhelm Prager's Wege zu Kraft und Schönheit
• Leni in Wege? — production stills from Wege zu Kraft und Schönheit which may (or may not!) feature Leni Riefenstahl
• A Comparison of Selected Production Stills from Wilhelm Prager's Wege zu Kraft und Schönheit and Leni Riefenstahl's Olympia

Historical Notes

• Promoting a more idealistic, perhaps even moral and innocent approach to health and beauty in harmony with nature, this film — whether by design or by coincidence — was clearly in stark contrast with the decadent "city life" that was prevalent in Berlin and other major urban centers of Germany (and elsewhere in Europe) during the 1920s, and as one of the first "culture films" ever made, Wege zu Kraft und Schönheit was an immediate success upon its release, and would ultimately be the most popular and important German Kulturfilm of that period.
• A British sound version was made in 1932, entitled Back to Nature, although this version was only 42 minutes in length and included additional gymnasium scenes not shot by the original production team.

Analysis & Criticism

(On-Site)

• Leni Riefenstahl's Film Début
• Illustrierter Filmkurier #159 — the complete text (in German)

Web Links

Below are selected external links (to other sites) with information and/or articles about this film. External links to information about other Leni Riefenstahl films can be found in the Web Links section on the main pages for each of those films, or for more general information please see the Selected Leni Riefenstahl Links section of this site.

• Filmposter-Archiv - Filmplakat: Wege zu Kraft und Schönheit — the original film poster
• Information from the Deutsche Filminstitut (in German):
  • [Partial] Text from the Illustrierter Filmkurier (note that the complete text is available on this site — see above)
  • Filmography
  • Press material (PDF)
  • Photos (PDF)
• Das Geheimnis der Lebensfrische — a 1925 review of the film, from the Berliner Illustrierten Zeitung (in German)
• The Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

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