While watching a documentary on the notorious filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl, I started thinking how it's a shame more well-made documentaries aren't out on DVD and probably never will be. I should start checking my hypotheses before fretting over them.

The Wonderful Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl is out on DVD. A very interesting and well-made documentary that not only raises many interesting questions about her controversial life and work, but confronts her with them. She's very articulate in her old age (90 when the documentary was made) and just as tenacious as she ever was. She speaks intelligently about the craft of filmmaking, when she's not desperately detaching herself from the Nazi Party with interesting but futile arguments on the separation of filmmaking craft and film content. Admire her for her tenacity and talent, despise her for her lack of accountability and hyper-rationalized detachment.

And speaking of documentaries on DVD, Amazon wins ten points for the ability to browse documentaries on DVD. Hands on a Hard Body, Visions of Light, and Crumb are a few in their list. A decent selection, but for documentaries, it could be nicer.