SOURCE: Mesic, Penelope. “Explanations, Accusations, No Regrets.” Chicago Tribune Books (10 October 1993): 6-7.

In the following review, Mesic criticizes Riefenstahl for ignoring the moral and ethical questions surrounding her life and work in Leni Riefenstahl: A Memoir.

It is one of the more telling ironies of Nazism that Hitler, while envisioning a master race of supermen, surrounded himself with lumpen physiques and mediocre minds. The only real superman among Hitler's favorites was a woman. Her name was Leni Riefenstahl and there was nothing she couldn't do. Beautiful, educated and clever, she demonstrated artistic brilliance as a dancer and superb physical courage as a skier and mountain climber—skills she put to use as an actress in films that established her fame in Europe while she was still in her early 20s. And yet her real talent, even genius, lay elsewhere, as a director of films.

The still vigorous Riefenstahl...