Triumph of the Will (1934)

Fair Propaganda Film

I watched this film twice, and was amazed at the discipline imposed on the German people. It begins with Hitler flying in to a small airport, and follows a motorcade lined with cheering, adoring Germans, as Hitler is driven to his hotel. In scene after scene, we see Hitler reviewing field workers carrying shovels, Hitler's Youth Brigades, and torch light parades. The message is clear: Germans love Hitler. He was their savior. Those who didn't love Hitler are in concentration camps. We are not treated to concentration camp scenes, for this was clearly a propaganda film. This film is not rehearsed, it was filmed as it happened. Speeches are well rehearsed and scenes with troops and workers were choreographed by Speer, and Goebbels.

Since my initial review, I watched Lina being interviewed. She won an award for this film, but she regretted doing it. She was not political, she was an artist. Hitler implored her to do this film, and she did no others for the Nazi party. July 24, 2008

PUT YOURSELF IN THEIR SHOES!!

This is the infamous documentary produced by Leni Riefenstahl of the 1934 Nazi Party rally in Nuremberg, Germany. Working with an unlimited budget, she created the almost perfect propaganda film to promote the Nazi Party in Germany. Fascinating today, just for the historical interest, it has been the model over the decades for others wanting to understand the power of propaganda film. It was a powerful influence in establishing Hitler as the messiah for Germany. It was shown in part or whole in every theater throughout Germany during WWII. Of course, today we see it thru the lens of history and the unspeakable evil that was committed by Hitler and his regime but the people watching in 1934 did not have that insight. At the very least, it is a powerful warning to those of us who have the benefit of history to be more discerning in our falling for those who would seek to use this same kind of propaganda to push a cause, no matter how noble or good it might seem and the Nazi Party certainly seemed to be a noble cause for the German people. Riefenstahl used 30 cameras and 120 technicians during the filming. Hitler was always filmed separately so he could be edited in and out of the crowd pictures for maximum manipulation of imagery and seduction of the mind. While it runs a little long and is a little repetitive in places, this is an amazing piece of history and very much worthwhile of your time. WWW.LUSREVIEWS.BLOGSPOT.COM

June 7, 2008

Triumph of the Will

This is one of the true masterpieces of propaganda and an outstanding example of cinematic manipulation. Leni Reifenstahl created a truly impressive record of the Nazi Party Congress in 1934 and preserved it for the world to watch for generations to come. It is fascinating to note, with the benefit of hindsight, how much is left unsaid but lurks menacingly below the surface. But what is said is rather mundane and adheres to the party line, which makes modern audiences wonder what all the cheering and "seig heils" were about. The film is subtitled so you can read all the words of the speeches and you may be surprised by how lame they sound today. It is with a knowledge of history that one can take this all in and appreciate what a tremendous sales job this film did for Adolph Hitler and his government. This edition of the film helps you out with an historical commentary track which will help people, especially younger audiences, understand why what they are watching had such a tremendous impact. It is fun to watch Reifenstahl's cameras rolling to capture every angle of the impressive procedures...the Nazi's were masters at staging massive events. Look for the camera mounted on a flag pole in the stadium and moving up and down to capture the scope of the ceremonies. Some of the speeches were staged for the camera and you can sometimes pick out where the material was intercut. Propaganda is rarily so effective and this masterwork is well worth watching if you are a student of history and the terrible period of World War II. I know that a warning to take this entire production and its moving images in context is not necessary but it is wise to keep in mind while you watch this film that this was a dangerous government building its power. These days we are used to a mass media assault by politicians but this was very new in 1934. Well worth watching, it also created and refined a standard for filming live events of this type. Reifenstahl spent the rest of her life being praised for her dramatic technique and apologizing for this work. She did several other films for the Nazi Party including the wonderful "Olympia", which contains somewhat less propaganda because the Americans won so many gold medals. May 26, 2008

Problematic Genius

To begin with, merely discussing this film in open society, or among those conversant with film history and theory, often serves as the beginning of arguments rivalled only by mentioning Birth of a Nation. Attempting to review the film can only compound the problem. So, one must look at Riefenstahl's film in light of what it intends to accomplish, and how effective it is in doing so. To answer the first question, any film that attempts to rationalize National Socialism is morally questionable, to say the least. However, did Riefenstahl know this at the time this film was made? The evidence would argue that she didn't. While she couldn't have been unaware of the anti-Jewish rhetoric of the Nazi party, she may very well have been unaware of the extremity of that political party's ethnic hatred. Riefenstahl was commissioned to produce a celluloid document that would contribute to the cultural standing of the Nazis, and she did exactly that in her depiction not only of Hitler as a "god" descending from the heavens to rescue Germany, but also through the sheer power of the sequences in which masses of soldiers move in exact synchronization. Through images pastoral and industrial in origin, Riefenstahl weaves a tapestry that, for the moment of viewing, comes within a hair's breadth of achieving what the Nazis desperately wanted: acceptance by the world outside Germany.
The cinematic accomplishment of Triumph of the Will can be noted by one barometer: The film was considered to be so effective in its method and argument that it was banned from exhibition in the U.S.A. during the Second World War. Now, Riefenstahl's film was not alone in receiving this distinction; many lesser, more heavy-handed (and offensive) films were also banned during wartime. However, one only has to look at two of the most popular films of all time to determine just how influential Triumph of the Will really is. In George Lucas' Star Wars (Episode IV, for the newbies), the entire sequence in which the heroes are awarded their medals is "appropriated" from Triumph of the Will, even down to the replication of Albert Speer's "Cathedral of Light" which was created around the stadium at Nuremburg using huge flood lights. Following that, Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy used Triumph of the Will as an obvious reference in the depiction of the mustering and marching of the Orc troops against the heroic defenders of Middle Earth.
So where does this leave us? Is this film the virtual capture of evil on film? Yes...and no. It is a fact beyond dispute that the Third Reich epitomized evil during the mid-20th century, and any form of media which attempts to argue on its behalf is tainted by such an association. However, it is unfair to penalize Leni Riefenstahl for doing exactly what she was directed to do. What many people seem to be unable to accept is that she was willing to bring all of her cinematic acumen to bear upon such a project. It is difficult to reconcile the director of Olympia with that of Triumph of the Will. However, one must constantly remind oneself of Riefenstahl's commitment, as a documentarist, to capture the moment which is occurring before her cameras. As such, she cannot be held accountable for the ultimate effect of Triumph of the Will; this is simply an example of a director doing a job a bit too well. Still, no-one should simply sit back and view this film without the guidance of history. To do so, to accept the arguments of the film's "stars" without question, would be to declare defeat in the face of an evil which should have been wiped from the face of the Earth decades ago.
In short, this film is an invaluable resource of technique. Morally, it is beyond redemption. This moral failing is not the fault of the director. May 4, 2008

Good release at a reasonable price

When I decided to purchase Triumph of the Will a few weeks ago, I saw that Amazon had two releases, this one and another that was much more costly. The descriptions weren't very helpful in distinguishing between the two releases.

I'm always leery of cheap releases of titles that are in the public domain, but I decided to take a chance on this one. I'm glad to report that I wasn't disappointed. I can't compare the two releases, but I can tell you that Synapse Films, which published this version, did a good job of it.

I haven't watched the entire DVD, but I immediately spot-checked it for quality.The digital restoration is decent and the commentary by Dr. Anthony Santoro is worthwhile, possibly even up to the standard that I have been accustomed to in Criterion Collection releases.

One quirk: The screen format is called windowboxed. Don't let this bother you. The original, of course, was shot in the then-standard 1.33:1 ratio. The opening titles of this release are reduced, so that you get the feeling that you are watching it in a movie theatre, but after the titles, the image fills out the entire standard-ratio TV screen. May 3, 2008

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