Leni Riefenstahl Video Downloads

Part One: The Arnold Fanck Bergfilms

Other Downloads:

• Digital Art Desktop Wallpapers
• Das blaue Licht Desktop Wallpapers
• Screensavers for Windows®
• Video Downloads Part One: The Arnold Fanck Bergfilms (this page!)
• Video Downloads Part Two: Leni Riefenstahl Produktion
• Video Downloads Part Three: Miscellaneous
• Audio Downloads

Below is a selection of clips from the early Bergfilms ("mountain films") directed by Dr Arnold Fanck, available for free download (for personal use only).*  With regard to those clips which are from the earlier silent films, it should be noted that several of these movies have been made available and/or presented in more recent times with background music added. In some cases, this music has been newly-written specifically for the film, however, in other cases it is merely incidental, without actually having anything to do directly with the film. In any case, this music is naturally a modern interpretation and not what the audiences would have heard when those movies were first released (which, of course, would generally be "live" music played on a theatre organ or piano), therefore, in the interest of historical authenticity, clips from silent films are present as exactly that — silent.

* "Personal use only" means for the purpose of off-line viewing on your own computer — not for inclusion on web pages or any other collection in any transferrable medium other than Leni's Rising Star. Please feel free to link to this page, however, Leni's Rising Star requests that you do not link to the individual files themselves.

On This Page:

• Dance Début
• Bergfilm Basics
• Mysterious Places
• Land of Ice & Snow
• HELP! Downloading & Playing RealMedia Files

Dance Début

Having grown up into the avante-garde Berlin arts scene of the Roaring Twenties, Leni's artistic career didn't begin as an actress in films, but as a dancer on the stage, given to standing ovations all over Europe for her solo performances.

In Leni's first film, Der heilige Berg (1926) — a film written especially for her premiere on the silver screen — there are quite a few dance scenes, thankfully providing us with a small testament and record of Leni's roots.

Here we are treated to a front-row seat for a stage performance of one of Leni's most successful self-choreographed pieces, Dream Blossom, based on Anna Pavlova's Dying Swan, which was danced in bare feet to the music of Chopin.

This dance, which Leni originally created to be performed to Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, is the opening sequence of Der heilige Berg. This clip was made from both an American VHS version of the film as well as the original German version, and although a far superior version of this film is now available on DVD (see the Leni Riefenstahl on Video page), the transition from the English version to the German version (as presented here) is obvious not only because of the better quality of the German version, but because of the rather interesting historical example of the use of fraktur (blackletter) as a choice of font for the title cards.

In addition to the above two "complete" dances, there are quite a few additional sequences showing other dances by Leni. For this clip, all of these separate sequences have been combined into a single "dance medley", rounding out this collection showing Leni Riefenstahl's beginnings as she stood — or, rather, danced — on the threshold of her film career.

Bergfilm Basics

The phenomenon of the Bergfilm — the "mountain film" — in the early days of German cinema can essentially be credited to the work of Arnold Fanck more than any other director, and the most outstanding characteristic of these films was, of course, their main locales being in the Mountains. Whether on the towering peaks of the Alps or amongst the icebergs (ice-bergs, that is, ice-mountains) of Greenland, circling around, above and even within these colossal, real-life settings took place the events and actions of the stories. These include events which are human-designed, with the most common recurring elements being Mountain Climbing, Downhill Skiing and Aviation (not to mention Search & Rescue, included along with all of these); however, in conjuction with these human events which are effectively imposed upon these monumental settings, there are also more divinely-inspired and controlled phenomena, revealing and imposing themselves, in turn, upon our relatively helpless protagonists through the forces of Nature, most often in the form of soft, flowing Clouds, or crashing down upon our heroes more tragically as Snow Storms (blizzards) and Avalanches (in SOS Eisberg, the avalanches are replaced with the thunderous spring break-up of the Arctic ice floes and glaciers). All, or at least most, of these elements are present in each of Fanck's films (with perhaps the exception of the two comedies, Der große Sprung and Der weiße Rausch), essentially sandwiching the characters between the mortal, Earthly world and the supernatural realm of the Gods, with matters taking place both within their control and beyond it.

On a side note, with social and political circumstances being what they were between the two World Wars (both within Germany and elsewhere), it is no wonder that these films held such great appeal with the viewing public, even if that attraction was ultimately on a more subtle, even subconscious level. Not only was footage such as those depicted in Fanck's films completely new for the viewing public, but for so many that felt the despair of poverty and economic turmoil in their lives, it allowed them an escape and, indeed, provided something "loftier" to dream of and hope for.

The following clips in this section are provided as an overview of all of the above characteristics of the Bergfilm, and as examples of the mastery of Arnold Fanck as a genuine pioneer in capturing these elements on film back in those still-very-early days of motion pictures.

Three definitive examples of mountain climbing from three separate films are shown in this clip, including precarious ascents up rocky crags and snow- and ice-covered cliffs, a terrifying and injurious fall, plus more peaceful (and amourous) moments in the serenity and beauty of the mountain top.

Skiing, skiing, skiing — and more skiing!

Fanck's comedy Der weiße Rausch was the first sound film ever made about downhill skiing, and although skiing plays an important part in most of the Bergfilms, in this instance the entire film contains practically nothing else other than that (although rest assured that it does have a plot, too!). In her memoirs, Leni practically dismisses this picture, mentioning it almost only in passing as little more than a footnote, stating that her part in it was "really rather silly". Obviously (and naturally) she aspired to much greater roles, but it's alright if her character had an amusingly trivial nature in this film because, after all, it was a true slapstick comedy (perfectly typical for those times) and it wasn't trying to be anything more than that.

In this film, Leni becomes enthralled with taking up skiing, and undertakes lessons to that end (as shown in the first few sequences of the present clip), and a year later she's become confident enough to take part in the "fox hunt" (the second part of this clip), an annual winter skiing game played by the local townfolk where someone is appointed as the "fox" and it is the goal of everyone else to catch them before the end of the day. Leni, of course, is chosen to be the fox (along with her flirtatious ski instructor, Hannes) — and, in a more colloquial sense, a "fox" she most certainly is, with what is one of her sexiest moments (literally just a few seconds, and "sexy" for the time, of course) as she jumps into, and then out of, her bed in her room at the inn.

High up in the mountains, Hannes is suffering from frostbite and exposure, and so makes an attempt at downhill skiing his way to safety from his weather station above the clouds over Montblanc (and without the help of ski poles because of his frost-bitten hands), only to be pursued half-way down by an avalanche.

Avalanches play a significant part in a number of Fanck's films, and this is one of the most spectacular examples, in addition to the scene incorporating various other elements of the Bergfilm at the same time.

This scene is one of the most beautiful and emotionally evocative scenes of clouds appearing in Fanck's films, filmed using time-lapse photography in the manner in which Fanck was both master and pioneer.

In the beginning of this clip, Hella calls out to her father from a distance, not realizing at first that he has slipped off the mountain and fallen to his death. We are not shown the body being found, nor what evidence was discovered to show how it was learned why he disappeared, but we know that Hella has learned that this is the case from the heavy "sighs" portrayed through the motion (emotion!) of the clouds as they ebb and flow mournfully in time with the music.

This extended clip is not only an example of Aviation in the Bergfilms which Fanck was famous for, but a historical record of Ernst Udet, the flying ace who served during World War I in the Richthofen Squadron (the "Flying Circus" of Baron Manfred von Richthofen, popularly known as "The Red Baron"), ultimately becoming the fighter pilot with the second-highest number of "kills" (62) in all of Germany, and subsequently the most famous stunt pilot in the world during his time. In the 1930s, he was featured in several films, including Fanck's Die weiße Hölle vom Piz Palü (1929), Stürme über dem Montblanc (1930) and SOS Eisberg (1933), plus the 1935 Heinz Paul film Wunder des Fliegens: der Film eines deutschen Fliegers (archival footage of Udet can also be found in the 1996 Sebastian Dehnhardt documentary Hitlers Helfer). Although he had misgivings about the Nazis, the patriotism Udet felt for his country led him to hesitatingly join the Luftwaffe in 1934, where he eventually attained the rank of Generalluftzeugmeister. Unfortunately, he was ill-suited for the responsibilities he'd been given, and he became more and more despondent as the years went by, and with the advent of war and his eventually being unjustly blamed for the Luftwaffe's failures in the Battle of Britain, it became too much for him to bear — and, sadly, on the 17th of November, 1941, Udet committed suicide. [For a more detailed biography, see Ernst Udet: Rise and Fall of a German Ace.]

In this extended clip are some of the most interesting scenes featuring Udet, including some dangerous stunt flying in old-style biplanes and, for those who are interested in Udet as a person of historical significance on his own, a couple of additional scenes featuring him in speaking (and non-flying) moments. Rather intriguing as well is the scene from Die weiße Hölle vom Piz Palü which takes place at a party: regardless of however staged (for the screen) this scene might be, we are given a peek in on what a high-brow social gathering of that time was like, complete with some Roaring Twenties "flapper"-style dress and accoutrements. Fun!

For additional scenes featuring Ernst Udet, see the clips SOS Leni and The Inuit, below.

Mysterious Places

Although not a major element of the Bergfilm, Fanck was also significantly adept at adding elements of mystery and intrigue — and even the supernatural — in his films. Below are a few noteworthy examples.

This scene is a hallucination which Trenker's character experiences after being stranded and freezing on the mountain. Note that the "ice palaces" shown in this clip aren't miniatures, but were real ice sculptures (some fifty feet in height) built on the frozen lake at Lenzerheide. Interesting in this scene as well are the shots of the flame — reminiscent (or, rather, prophetic?) of the shots of the Olympic flame which Leni would do herself a decade later for Olympia.

Here we have another excellent example of the style of film-making which made Fanck famous. In this scene, the mountain guide (played by Otto Spring) leads a search party down into a frozen mountain crevasse to search for the bodies of a group of young hikers who were swept away to their deaths by an avalanche.

This scene only features Leni briefly (at the end of the clip), however, it presents a very surreal — even ominous — view of the observatory in the film (as well as being our first introduction to Leni's character). Even today, this scene evokes great mystery and intrigue, and one can only imagine what audiences in 1930 must have felt in seeing it. Indeed, one might say that it brings forth a bit of the same feelings that we are given during the laboratory scenes in the original Frankenstein — which, in fact, was released the following year. Perhaps Fanck's direction and editing provided a bit of inspiration?

Land of Ice & Snow

Below are a few clips from SOS Eisberg, worthy of a separate look due to the fact that this film is unique amongst the Bergfilms because of its location. In addition, Leni's role as heroine is extended to include (for the first and only time) some very talented skills as a pilot — and this, of course, only added a whole new dimension to the mystique of Leni Riefenstahl.

This clip is actually the very first sequence in the film, coming directly after the opening titles. Introducing us via entries made into the day book of Dr Lorenz, it gives us not only a quick synopsis of how he became stranded, but also a foreshadowing of what is to come in the film.

As mentioned above, SOS Eisberg is the first and only time that Leni appeared as an aviatrix (pilot) in any of her films. It was Ernst Udet who actually was flying the planes, of course; however, it is worthwhile to look at these scenes in order to show how Leni's character was portrayed in this context, and how the "myth" developed about who and what she was.

In addition, included in this clip is a related sequence where the stranded party finally gets their SOS message through over the radio, featuring a memorable example of Fanck's experimental editing.

Although SOS Eisberg was released more than a decade after Robert Flaherty's highly successful Nanook of the North (regarded by film historians to be the first documentary ever made), the scenes which feature the Greenland Inuit ("Eskimos") in Fanck's film are worthy of mention as another one of the first cinematographic records of them. Although the Inuit peoples which appear here are clearly acting before the camera (particularly with their "awe" over seeing an airplane for the "first time"), nevertheless it is of significance and interest because of the still largely traditional culture which they had at that time, as yet not very much influenced by non-Native peoples and material goods.

HELP! Downloading & Playing RealMedia Files

Viewing RealMedia Videos

To view these clips, you need RealOne Player, available for download in a free "basic" version or a trial/buyable "pro" version.

Downloading/Saving the Videos

To save the clips to your hard drive for off-line viewing, just right-click (PC) or click-and-hold (Mac) over the links, and choose "Save Target As..." — where on your hard drive you then save them to is up to you!

Viewing Tip: Go Full-Screen!

In RealOne Player, move your cursor over to the top left corner of the video window (as in the picture at left) and a little button-bar will appear — click the last button and view these clips in "Full Screen Theater" mode!

| Home | | A Dancer's Odyssey | | Early Films Featuring Leni | | Films Directed by Leni |
| Downloads | | LEN-E Discussion List | | Resources | | Guestbook & Contact | | Credits |

All original text copyright © Ron Koster / Leni's Rising Star,
except as otherwise noted.
All original icons, graphics, layout and typography of this entire site
copyright © Leni's Rising Star / Psymon.
May not be reproduced or distributed in any manner
without explicit permission of Leni's Rising Star / Psymon.