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Documentary accounts for Riefenstahl
By ALEXANDRA TWIN
Traditionally, the word "documen-
tary" summons up as much enthusi-
asm as a slice of dry toast. The phrase
"with English subtitles" is equally
titillating. So why, then, would you
University of Michigan
School of Music
Thursday-Sunday, October 6-9, 13-16, 20-23
Life Sentences, by Richard Nelson
Group Theatre of Michigan, directed by John Russell Brown
Trueblood Theatre, Frieze Building
Thurs.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 2 p.m.
Tickets: $10 general, $7 with U-M ID; $4 students (764-0540)
Friday, October 7
William D. Revelli Memorial Concert
Symphony Band; H. Robert Reynolds and Gary Lewis, conductors
Bach, Schuman, Rachmaninoff, Wagner, and selected marches
Hill Auditorium, 8 p.m., free
Guest Concert: Electro-metamorphosis
Live electro-acoustic computer music
Recital Hall, School of Music, 8 p.m., free
Sunday-Wednesday, October 9-12
34th ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON ORGAN MUSIC*
Sunday, October 9
Stearns/Virginia Martin Howard Lecture Series
Prof. Bart Polot: "MIDI Technology: New Tools and New Music"
Recital Hall, School of Music, 2 p.m., free
*Autumn Festival of Choirs
Hill Auditorium, 4 p.m., free
*Organ Recital: R6jean Poirer, Universit6 de Montr6al
Blanche Anderson Moore Hall, School of Music, 8 p.m., free
Monday, October 10
*Organ Recital: U-M organ majors perform
Blanche Anderson Moore Hall, School of Music, 1 h20 a.m., free
*Faculty Recital: Kristen Johns, horn; Michele Johns, organ
First Congregational Church, 4:30 p.m., free
*Carillon Recital: Phillip Burgess performs music by Barnes,
Clement, and Byrnes
Burton Memorial Tower, 7:30p.m., free
*Faculty Organ Recital: Commemorating the Frieze Memorial
Organ's 100th anniversary on the U-M campus, Prof. Robert
Glasgow performs Scarlatti, Schumann, Widor, and Sowerby
Hill Auditorium, 8 p.m., free
Tuesday, October 11
*Organ Recital: Stephen Farr, Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford
Blanche Anderson Moore Hall, School of Music, 10 a.m., free
*Faculty Piano Recital: Four Centuries of Bach
Louis Nagel performs Bach, Shostakovich, and more
Recital Hall, School of Music, 11:30 a.m., free
*Organ Recital: Gerard Gillen, St. Patrick's College, Ireland
Hill Auditorium, 3:30 p.m., free
*Faculty Carillon Recital: University Carillonist Margo Halsted
plays van den Gheyn, Johnson, van Ingelgem; bell chamber is open.
Burton Memorial Tower, 7:30 p.m., free
*Chamber Choir Concert: Maurice Durufle's Requiem
Theodore Morrison, conductor; James Kibbie, organist
Hill Auditorium, 8 p.m., free
Faculty Recital: Michael Webster, clarinet,
and Anton Nel, piano
Assisted by Karen Lykes, mezzo-soprano; Leone Buyse, flute
Spohr's Sechs Deutsche Lieder, Bizet's Children's Games (transcr.
Webster-premiere); Lutoslawski, Berg, and Debussy
Recital Hall, School of Music, 8 p.m., free
Wednesday, October 12
*Organ Recital: Karl Schrock, First Baptist Church, Kalamazoo,
plays 20th-century music for organ
Hill Auditorium, 11 a.m., free
*Organ Recital: John Vanella, Immaculate Conception Cathedral,
Crookston, Minn., plays works of Charles Tournemire
Hill Auditorium, 3 p.m., free
*Carillon Recital: JanEl Gortmaker performs carillon music by
Gerken, Wagenaar, and it Hart
Burton Memorial Tower, 7:30 p.m., free
*Organ Recital: Rudolf Innig, Coesfeld Musikhochschule and Ev.
Martkirche, Germany
Hill Auditorium, 8 p.m., free
Thursday, October 13
Concert Band
Dennis Glocke conducts Vaughan Williams, Persichetti, and Bach
Hill Auditorium, 8 p. m., free
Thursday-Sunday, October 13-16
Stephen Sondheim's Sunday in the Park with George
Musical Theatre Production
Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre
Thurs.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 2 p.m.
Tickets: $16, $12, students $6 (764-0450)
Sunday, October 30
University Symphony and Philharmonia Orchestras
Halloween Concerts
Featured dead composers include Tchaikovsky, Offenbach,
Prokofiev, de Falla, Wagner, Berlioz, and Stravinsky.
Hill Auditorium; performances at 5:00 and 8:30 p.m.
The Wonderful
Horrible Life
of Leni
Riefenstahl
Directed by Ray
Muller; with Leni
Riefenstahl
possibly want to see a film that is both
a documentary and in German with
English subtitles? It could be due to
the fact that missing it means losing
out on a vivid, near-absorbing ac-
count of one of the most interesting
women in recent history.
Leni Riefenstahl grew up in turn-
of the century Germany in a tradi-
tional household. While her interest
was always in the arts, it was only in
her early 20s that she turned to film.
First as an actor, then as a director and
finally as Hitler's most noted docu-
mentarian, her career was an intri-
cate, erratic one, short on years but
long on repercussions.
As the favorite "girl" of the moun-
tain-obsessed director Arthur Fanck,
Leni was due to be the next Marlene
Dietrich. If a lover kept her away
from American cinema and the star-
dom it entailed, it was fate and deter-
mination that landed her in the midst
of the Third Reich. As it stands, her
"Triumph of the Will" (1934) is con-
sidered by most historians to be the
defining propaganda film of the pe-
riod.
In attempting to create a Political
party film that was as artistic as it was
accurate, Riefenstahl found herself at
the forefront of German filmmaking.
She also found herself in the unenvi-
able role of promoter of Nazi-Ger-
many.
The film poses the interesting
question of was she a feminist pio-
neer or a woman of evil? The answer
is probably a little of both.
Insofar as documentaries go, the
film generally follows the standard
narrative path, relying on the constant
interplay between "naturalistic" in-
terviews with the now 90-year old
Riefenstahl and clips from a bevy of
her old films. While generally inter-
esting, the technique tends to grow
tiresome, particularly after about an
hour and a half of the three-hour film.
Although the old clips, in their depic-
tion of Nazi Germany and a young,
beautiful starlet and her love of light
and shadows are intriguing, it is argu-
ably the constant bickering of
Riefenstahl and documentary direc-
tor Ray Muller that give the film its
most distinctive edge.
It seems that the highly opinion-
ated director, despite her advancing
age, still has quite a few opinions
regarding how she should be por-
trayed. In almost endearingly stal-
wart demeanor; Riefenstahl explains
most specifically why she simply must
be filmed in front of this mountain or
near that house or coming towards the
camera, not simply sitting. Equally
vehement is she in denying her politi-
cal involvement with the films she
made. Although the diaries of various
Nazi leaders clearly link her to them
on a social level, Riefenstahl insists
that the connection was purely busi-
ness.
It is the disturbing nature of this
dichotomy between fact and memory
that both makes the film intriguing
and lends it its otherwise trite title.
Although only sporadically wonder-
ful, the film, even at its most lagging
moments, manages to provide a star-
tling portrayal of a difficult character,
one who was and is so alternately
fascinating and repellent as to de-
mand unqualified attention, both
within her time and beyond.
THE WONDEFUL H RIBLE--
LIFE OF LENI RIEFENSTAHL is
playing at the Michigan Theater.
PRINTING
HIGH QUALITY
LOW PRICES
The bell tolls for 'Saved by the Bell'
By SCOTT PLAGENHOEF
Luke and Laura. Charles and Di.
Television weddings, real and fic-
tional, have both captivated our imagi-
nations and served as cultural shared
experiences. Tonight at 8 on NBC,
however, arrives the piece de resis-
tance of television weddings: Zach
Morris and Kelly Kapowski head off
to Sin City to tie the knot on "Saved
By the Bell: Wedding in Las Vegas."
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Thinking about law school?
Plan to attend........
Law Day
Wednesday, October 12, 1994
10:00am - 2:00pm
Michigan Union
2nd floor
Collect application information and explore law education options
* Meet with admissions representatives from US law schools
* Explore paralegal programs
* Investigate internship and employment options
* Gather information on test preparation services and law-related
campus organizations
Attend the Law School Admissions Panel 2:10pm - 3:00pm
" Increase your understanding of the law school admissions
process
" Collect tips to enhance the quality of your application
" Ask your questions about the selection criteria process
The PUlniry 0MkigPp (n
Career Planning \Pla4 yent
The evolution of the program from
Saturday morning to prime time to a
wedding is representative of how uni-
versal its appeal and wide its vision.
Sadly, however, unlike Zach and
Kelly's life as Mr. and Mrs., this two-
hour television movie is the regret-
table end of "Saved By the Bell."
"Saved By the Bell" began as a
saturated Hayley Mills vehicle. The
former star of the Disney romp "The
Parent Trap" was cast as Miss Bliss,
everyone's favorite teacher at Bayside
Middle School. However, the show
was soon proverbially stolen by fresh-
faced, Ferris Bueller-like blond, Zach
Morris and the lovable, but oft-abused
nerd Samuel "Screech" Powers.
These two, along with the fashion
conscious Lisa Turtle and their wacky
push-over of a principal Richard
Belding, graduated to Bayside High.
The four holdovers formed the nucleus
of a new cast which included the
rugged yet sensitive A.C. Slater,
brainy, liberal-minded Jesse Spano
and the softly attractive and kind head
cheerleader Kelly Kapowski.
The show had ups and downs,
often touched upon subjects and
memorable moments, yet despite such
classic television as Screech being
the first male crowned 'Miss Bayside'
or Casey Kasem presiding over a
dance contest at the Max, it was the
relationships between the characters,
particularly Zach and Kelly's, which
was the centerpiece of the show.
Zach initially had to'compete for
Kelly's affection with Slater, but A.C.
discontinued his pursuit and began an
unlikely relationship with Jesse.
Zach and Kelly soon thereafter
became Bayside's hottest couple. The
salad days of their romance however
came to an end when Kelly was wooed
by an older college guy, Jeff, her boss
at the Max.
In arguably the series' second most
touching moment (outside of Jesse's
brave admittance to her addiction to
over-the-counter caffeine pills). Zach
and Kelly, soon after being crowned
King and Queen of the costume dance,
broke up. Dressed as Romeo and
Juliet, Kelly took Zach outside and
admitted her feelings for Jeff. Inside
Slater and Jesse gazed into each oth-
ers eyes singing the Michael Bolton
opus, "How Am I Supposed to Live
Without You," Zach was being told
he would have to live without Kelly.
Jeff would be discovered cozying
up to some blonde at the happening,
18-and-older club the Attic that the
gang used fake IDs to enter, but Kelly
and Zach did not return where they
left off. In fact, Kelly briefly left the
show to be replaced in the cast and in
Zach's heart by Tori.
However, reunited in the same
suite at California University their
love rekindled and tonight they will
elope. Of course, the wedding prob-
ably won't go off without some hitch;
which will involve the constant
bumbling of that lovable imp Screech,
but rest assured the always crafty Zach
will find a way to the altar.
"Saved By the Bell: Wedding in
Las Vegas" will be a true cultural
dichotomy. The excitement of the
moment will be contrasted by the
finality of the show. Tiffini-Amber
Thiessen has been elevated from pre-
teen pin-up show to teen pin-up show,
"Beverly Hills 90210." The remain-
der of the cast is currently unem-
ployed and all may be destined to
disappear only to resurface on the talk
show circuit or police blotter, or both.
Yet the magic of syndication allows
us to revisit the carefree days of
Bayside, when nerds were nerds, Zach
was king and there were only six kids
in the entire school that really mat-
tered. We'll miss you Bayside. We're
looking forward to the class reunion.
i
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in the Arts and Humanities
pend a year or a semester immersed in the life
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