Univerzita Palackého v Olomouci Filozofická fakulta Palacký University in Olomouc Faculty of Arts Diplomová práce Master's thesis DOKUMENTARISTICKÉ ZTVÁRNĚNÍ LENI RIEFENSTAHLOVÉ DOCUMENTARY FILM PORTRAYAL OF LENI RIEFENSTAHL Bc. Anastasiya Lyubashenko Katedra divadelních a filmových studií Department of theatre and film studies Vedoucí práce/supervisor: Mgr. Jakub Korda Ph.D. Studijní program/study programme: Film Studies-Media Studies Olomouc 2016 Prohlašuji, že jsem diplomovou práci na téma Dokumentaristické ztvárnění Leni Riefenstahlové vypracovala samostatně za použití v práci uvedených pramenů a literatury. Dále prohlašuji, že tato diplomová práce nebyla využita k získání jiného nebo stejného titulu. Datum podpis 2 . Ráda bych touto cestou vyjádřila poděkování Jakubu Kordovi za jeho vstřícnost a trpělivost při vedení mé diplomové práce. Rovněž bych chtěla poděkovat mé matce Olesii a manželovi Arťomovi, bez jejíchž podpory by tato práce nevzníkla. 3 CONTENT INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................ 7 Literature and sources..............................................................................................9 Methodology .......................................................................................................... 14 Key terms of research ............................................................................................ 21 1. THE THEORETICAL BACKGROUND FOR THE GENERIC ANALYSIS OF THE DOCUMENTARY ........................................................................................ 25 1.1. The concept of genre in film studies .............................................................. 25 1.2. The variations of documentary genre definitions. Genres of documentary ... 27 1.3. The specifics of the documentary narrative and narration within the portrait genre. Personal narrative, self-presentation, biographical and autobiographical components of portrait documentaries ................................ 35 2. PORTRAIT IN DOCUMENTARY GENRE STUDIES ........................................ 42 2.1. Leni Riefenstahl as a subject of portrayal in the documentary film ............... 42 2.2. Genesis of the portrait genre .......................................................................... 48 2.3. Portrait and portraying within the documentary film genre. The essence and basic conventions of documentary film portrait for analysis ................... 56 2.3.1. Portraying process within a documentary .......................................... 59 2.3.2. Exploring the conventions of documentary film portrait in contemporary documentaries referred to similar genre ...................... 60 3. THE ANALYSIS OF THE FILM THE WONDERFUL, HORRIBLE LIFE OF LENI RIEFENSTAHL ........................................................................................... 65 3.1. Tracing of the conventions and other points of methodological sources in a documentary The The Wonderful, Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl ............ 70 3.1.1. The First Convention .......................................................................... 70 3.1.2. The Second Convention ..................................................................... 78 3.1.3. The Third Convention ........................................................................ 85 3.1.4. The Fourth Convention ...................................................................... 89 3.1.5. The Fifth Convention ......................................................................... 93 CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................ 102 LIST OF LITERATURE AND SOURCES .............................................................. 107 4 TITLE: Documentary film portrayal of Leni Riefenstahl AUTHOR: Bc. Anastasiya Lyubashenko DEPARTMENT: The Department of Theatre and Film Studies SUPERVISOR: Mgr. Jakub Korda Ph.D. ABSTRACT: This research aims to analyse the documentary The Wonderful, Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl (1993) from the perspective of the portrait genre. For this purpose, the definition and distinctive conventions of this particular genre are methodologically outlined on the basis of the thematic titles dealing with documentary theory and genre theory. Afterwards, the outlined conventions are traced on the example of the film. The research is relevant due to the recent increasing production of portrait genre documentaries in the film industry. Besides, the personality of Leni Riefenstahl has rarely been a subject of studies with regard to documentary film portrayal. The generic analysis of such type is innovative by exploring the concept of portraiture applied to the documentary field of motion arts. KEYWORDS: genre, documentary, portrait, Riefenstahl 5 TITLE: Dokumentaristické ztvárnění Leni Riefenstahlové AUTHOR: Bc. Anastasiya Lyubashenko KATEDRA: Katedra Divadelních a Filmových studií VEDOUCÍ PRÁCE: Mgr. Jakub Korda Ph.D. ABSTRAKT: Tato diplomová práce si klade za cíl analyzovat dokument Síla Obrazu-Leni Riefenstahlová (1993) z hlediska portrétního žánru. V první části jsou na základě tématických titulů zabývajících se dokumentární a žánrovou teorií metodicky nastíněny definice a charakteristické konvence daného žánru. V následující části jsou nastíněné konvence sledovány na příkladu filmu. Tento výzkum je relevantní vzhledem k rostoucí tendenci počtu produkce dokumentů portrétního žánru v současném filmovém průmyslu. Kromě toho, osobnost Leni Riefenstahl byla málokdy předmětem studií ve vztahu k dokumentárnímu filmu. Žánrová analýza tohoto typu je inovativním zkoumáním pojetí portrétování a aplikací tohoto konceptu v dokumentární oblasti pohybových umění. KLÍČOVÁ SLOVA: žánr, dokumentární film, portrét, Riefenstahlová 6 INTRODUCTION The subject of the diploma research is the documentary portrayal of Leni Riefenstahl's personality in the documentary film The Wonderful, Horrible life of Leni Riefenstahl (1993) from the perspective of genre theory. The main purpose of my research lies in a generic analysis of the film, the potential definition of a genre within the analyzed documentary and the definition of the genre category to which the film may belong. Analyzing the particular qualities, portrayal techniques, plot patterns of narrative structure, I am making an attempt to outline the conventions which are typically incorporated in the portrait genre with regard to the documentary. The concept of portrait exists in various fields of socio-cultural space; we may call it interdisciplinary. The portrait genre starts its historical origin from ancient cave drawings. It is derived from the different fields of art, mainly from visual arts: from paintings, mosaics, sculptures and theatre to fictional motion-picture art. Based on this, in my research I insist on the existence of the portrait genre in a generic taxonomy of documentary films. Examining the nature of the portrait genre within the documentary, I am making an attempt to prove the hypothesis that the film The Wonderful, Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl carries the features and conventions of the portrait documentary genre. In other words, analyzing this mentioned film, I am focusing on its outstanding characteristics as of the portrait genre. In order to define them, I have worked out a methodology for the research, which is based on the theoretical sources by genre studies scholar Daniel Chandler1 and the particular statements of a widely-known authority, the documentary expert Bill Nichols. To help myself with the identification of the genre conventions, I am also analyzing the predominant modes and elements of my documentary using the theoretical classifications developed by Bill Nichols2 and John Corner3. The main questions of the research, which I aim to answer, are: 1 CHANDLER, Daniel. An Introduction to Genre Theory [online]. 1997, 15 [cit. 2016-04-14]. Dostupné z: http://visual-memory.co.uk/daniel/Documents/intgenre/chandler_genre_theory.pdf 2 NICHOLS, Bill. Introduction to Documentary. Second edition. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2010,s.250-251,142-172ss. 3 CORNER,John, Civic Visions:Forms of Documentary. Television Form and Public Address. London: Edward Arnold, 1995, s. 77-104. 7 1. What is the specifics of the portrait concept in the documentary field? How is it reflected in the documentary I am analyzing? 2. How is the portrayal of the personality provided within this documentary genre? Is that a constructed descriptive process, or a mere exploration of the personality as the main subject? 3. What are the conventions of the portrait genre and how are they incorporated in this particular documentary? 4. What is the specifics of the narrative (or storytelling) in a portrait documentary? What role does the personal narration of the subject play in the narrative structure? Who is the storyteller and the main guide of narrative? The director (main author of the film) or the self-presentation of a central personality? What is the role of biographical and autobiographical components in the narrative construction of a portrait documentary? The theoretical part of the thesis consists of the background for the generic analysis of the documentary. Firstly, it is necessary to mention the general explanation of the genre definitions in film studies and their interpretations with regard to the documentary. Then, I will briefly summarize the possible genre classifications and explain the specifics of the narrative in a portrait documentary.