"Bergfilmes" were fictional movies set in the high mountains. They were Germany's answer to American Westerns from the mid-1920s throughout the 1930s. Shot amongst Europe's tallest peaks, mostly in the Alps, the genre has spread worldwide from those wild decades to where today's audiences are thrilled by edge-of-the-seat cliffhangers.
The one German movie that single-handedly popularized the genre was director Arnold Franck's November 1926's "The Holy Mountain." The look of Franck's film can be much attributed to cinematographer Sepp Allgeier since his experience shooting newsreels in the Balkans translated to this film's groundbreaking photography in the Alps. Allgeier was the first motion cameraman to shoot ski footage trailing skiers down the slopes. His breathtaking work transported viewers sitting comfortable in their warm theater seats into the cold world of an icy, frostbitten environment.
A young dancer, Leni Riefenstahl, saw an earlier Fanck film, 1924's 'Mountain of Destiny,' and was enthralled by it. She became totally captivated by movie making after seeing it and began attending a series of film exhibitions. Her reputation as an improvise dancer was rather well known when she approached actor Luis Trenker, who appeared in the Fanck film, and convinced him to introduce her to the director. Riefenstahl's performing fame as well as her persuasive verbal skills opened the door as the lead female in "The Holy Mountain." She displays her dancing skills in several scenes specifically designed to show off her talent.
Riefenstahl plays the town beauty who's in love with an older mountain climber, Karl (Luis Trenker), while the younger mountaineer Vigo (Ernst Petersen) is equally infatuated with her. Veteran skier Karl happens upon an intimate scene with Luis and Vigo after he wins a thrilling ski race, but the embrace is really all innocent in her eyes. Except Karl does feel that way, and exacts his revenge by persuading Vigo to climb a high mountain during a raging snowstorm. The resultant heroic rescue scene is something the screen had never witnessed before.
Riefenstahl, later one of Nazi Germany's most favored documentary filmmakers, directed her first scenes in "The Holy Mountain" when Fanck was unavailable to shoot the springtime flower sequences as well as the nighttime rescue party search with flares ablazing. The movie took a year to film since the weather was uncooperative at the time. Adding to the production troubles was a series of serious injuries suffered by three stuntmen performing the many dangerous ski maneuvers. "The Holy Mountain" turned out to be wildly popular in Germany and France, and introduced to American audiences a thrilling mountaineer movie, setting the standard for future bergfilmes high above the timber line.
The one German movie that single-handedly popularized the genre was director Arnold Franck's November 1926's "The Holy Mountain." The look of Franck's film can be much attributed to cinematographer Sepp Allgeier since his experience shooting newsreels in the Balkans translated to this film's groundbreaking photography in the Alps. Allgeier was the first motion cameraman to shoot ski footage trailing skiers down the slopes. His breathtaking work transported viewers sitting comfortable in their warm theater seats into the cold world of an icy, frostbitten environment.
A young dancer, Leni Riefenstahl, saw an earlier Fanck film, 1924's 'Mountain of Destiny,' and was enthralled by it. She became totally captivated by movie making after seeing it and began attending a series of film exhibitions. Her reputation as an improvise dancer was rather well known when she approached actor Luis Trenker, who appeared in the Fanck film, and convinced him to introduce her to the director. Riefenstahl's performing fame as well as her persuasive verbal skills opened the door as the lead female in "The Holy Mountain." She displays her dancing skills in several scenes specifically designed to show off her talent.
Riefenstahl plays the town beauty who's in love with an older mountain climber, Karl (Luis Trenker), while the younger mountaineer Vigo (Ernst Petersen) is equally infatuated with her. Veteran skier Karl happens upon an intimate scene with Luis and Vigo after he wins a thrilling ski race, but the embrace is really all innocent in her eyes. Except Karl does feel that way, and exacts his revenge by persuading Vigo to climb a high mountain during a raging snowstorm. The resultant heroic rescue scene is something the screen had never witnessed before.
Riefenstahl, later one of Nazi Germany's most favored documentary filmmakers, directed her first scenes in "The Holy Mountain" when Fanck was unavailable to shoot the springtime flower sequences as well as the nighttime rescue party search with flares ablazing. The movie took a year to film since the weather was uncooperative at the time. Adding to the production troubles was a series of serious injuries suffered by three stuntmen performing the many dangerous ski maneuvers. "The Holy Mountain" turned out to be wildly popular in Germany and France, and introduced to American audiences a thrilling mountaineer movie, setting the standard for future bergfilmes high above the timber line.