In the 1920s and 1930s, German audiences embraced what was called das bergfilm, in which intrepid climbers scaled majestic snow-covered peaks in plots combining romance and suspense. The “mountain films” expressed an aspiration for high goals while suggesting the mystical communion with nature that purportedly characterized the Teutonic soul. This 1929 effort, probably the pinnacle of the genre, was co-directed by Arnold Fanck (the leading helmer of mountain films) and G.W. Pabst (who had just made a splash with Pandora's Box), and stars Leni Riefenstahl, the reigning beauty of the time (and later director of the famous Nazi propaganda film Triumph of the Will). The story involves a honeymooning climber who's devastated when his bride dies in a fall that encases her in the ice of Pitz Palu, and spends the rest of his life wandering across the mountain. Years later, he befriends a young couple climbing the peak, and when they're trapped by a blizzard, sacrifices himself to keep the others alive until rescue parties can arrive. What distinguishes the film isn't the plot or the acting, but the breathtaking mountain scenes, shot by a trio of cinematographers and beautifully captured in the 1997 restoration presented on this DVD. It may be hard to understand the strange attraction das bergfilm had for German viewers eight decades ago, but even after 75 years this one remains visually spectacular, with an orchestral score added in 1998 that complements the images nicely. DVD extras include an excerpt from the 1933 reissue of the film with sound added (but no subtitles), a photo gallery, and Sandra Maischberger's hour-long 2002 interview with Riefenstahl, made as the latter was approaching her100th birthday. Highly recommended. [Note: two other bergfilm titles with Riefenstahl are also newly available from Kino: S.O.S. Iceberg and Storm Over Mount Blanc.] (F. Swietek)
The White Hell of Pitz Palu
Kino, 133 min., not rated, DVD: $29.95 Volume 21, Issue 1
The White Hell of Pitz Palu
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