In the 20's of the last century Arnold Fanck made a lot of "mountain films". In this films the emphasis was on the beauty of nature (mostly of the Alps) and not on the story line. Leni Riefenstahl was actress in his most famous films (such as "The hell of Pitz Palu" (1929)). Riefenstahl was not staisfied with the semi documentary character of this films, and in her debut as director she combined the beauty of the Alps (filmed by Fanck's cinematographer Hans Schneeberger) with a story line. Despite her dissatisfaction with the movies of Fanck, later in her career Riefenstahl would mainly make documentaries herself (commissioned by Nazi Germany).
At the beginning of the film there is a scene with a carriage and his silent driver that is clearly inspired by "Nosferatu" (1922, Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau). Is "The blue light" a horror movie? No it is not. In the end it is more like a fantasy movie. Junta (Leni Riefenstahl), the main character, is not a vampier at all but a simple and pure girl representing nature. With the young boy Guzzi she lives in a small paradise like idyll. This idyll is destroyed by the greed of the citizens of the village in the valley. Nowadays the film could easily be interpreted in an ecological way (nature exhausted by human greed) but I don't think this is the interpretation that Riefenstahl had in mind.
Apart from fantasy, in some scenes the film has an unmistakeable erotic flavour. For the young men in the village Junta is a sort of siren. She herself lures the man of her choice with an apple in a scene with a definite Biblical connotation.
At the beginning of the film there is a scene with a carriage and his silent driver that is clearly inspired by "Nosferatu" (1922, Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau). Is "The blue light" a horror movie? No it is not. In the end it is more like a fantasy movie. Junta (Leni Riefenstahl), the main character, is not a vampier at all but a simple and pure girl representing nature. With the young boy Guzzi she lives in a small paradise like idyll. This idyll is destroyed by the greed of the citizens of the village in the valley. Nowadays the film could easily be interpreted in an ecological way (nature exhausted by human greed) but I don't think this is the interpretation that Riefenstahl had in mind.
Apart from fantasy, in some scenes the film has an unmistakeable erotic flavour. For the young men in the village Junta is a sort of siren. She herself lures the man of her choice with an apple in a scene with a definite Biblical connotation.