The Blue Light (1932)

When the moon is full, young men die attempting to reach the mysterious blue light in the mountains.

Directors:

Leni Riefenstahl, Béla Balázs (uncredited)

Writers:

Béla Balázs, Leni Riefenstahl (story)

Stars:

Leni Riefenstahl, Mathias Wieman, Beni Führer

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview:
Leni Riefenstahl	...	Junta
Mathias Wieman	...	Vigo
Beni Führer	...	Tonio
Max Holzboer	...	Innkeeper
Martha Mair	...	Lucia
Franz Maldacea	...	Guzzi

Storyline

Junta is hated by the people in the village where she lives, especially by the women, who suspect her of being a witch. Only she can climb the nearby mountains to a cave high up, whence a mysterious blue light glows when the moon is full. Many young men of the village have died trying to follow her. She is driven out of town, and takes to living in the mountains. Eventually she shares the secret of the blue light with one man, and he betrays it.

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Plot Keywords:

village | mountain | f rated | tragic love | dog | 

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Genres:

Drama | Fantasy | Mystery

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Did You Know?

Trivia

This was a groundbreaking film at the time. It was a sound film shot all on location high in the mountains. Real mountain people were used as supporting players.

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Goofs

At about 20 minutes the moon comes up and moves from right to left. In the northern hemisphere it moves from left to right.

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Alternate Versions

The first version in 1932 acknowledged all creative assistants. In 1938 she gave all story concept to her not of a Dolomite legend and then later in 1952 she even emitted the Jewish 'Béla Balázs' refusing to pay his last installment of fees.

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Connections

Referenced in Careful (1992)

User Reviews

Enchanting! But beware of the silent version!

Enchanting! But beware of the silent version!

This film was made in a sound and a silent version, as there were some theaters at the time that were still not equipped for sound. Unfortunately, it is the silent version that is being widely sold. This version is vastly inferior. The sound version is a hauntingly beautiful film. I have a sound version, but it is of poor quality and many subtitles are difficult to read. This film should be remastered. There are superb quality short excerpts from the film in The Wonderful Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl.

Leni Riefenstahl passed away yesterday at the age of 101. She died in her sleep. At the age of 100, she was still scuba diving!

She may have been the greatest motion picture director of all time, but she was forbidden from making motion pictures for over half a century, an incalculable loss to the art of film. I hope that they issue restored versions of her movies now, particularly my favorite, "The Blue Light", a fairy tale set in the Alps, a movie that she - a young girl then - wrote, directed, and starred in!

Note: I previously posted part of this commentary a couple of years ago (see below), but it was posted as "Anonymous" for some reason.

Details

Country:

Germany

Language:

German Italian

Release Date:

8 May 1934 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Blue Light

Filming Locations:

Foroglio, Val Maggia, Cantone Ticino, Switzerland

Company Credits

Production Co:

Leni Riefenstahl-Produktion

Technical Specs

Runtime:

85 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Tobis-Klangfilm)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1