El triunfo de la voluntad

Utterly brilliant film that was unfortunately very difficult to find (along with some other great films by propaghandist directors like Sergei Einsten)until a dvd release recently . Just look at the long shots. Absolutely no cameras visible. Truly meticulous work. Astounding score. The opening sequence of Hitler's descent is brilliant artistry, with the director creating the implicit parallel of God's descent from heaven. Excellent film for anyone remotely interested in politics since all these techniques are routinely used in campaign ads. People often neglect to realize the inherent politicality of all art. Art's politics is at its most dangerous when we fail to realize this simple truth - art and politics are inextricably linked. Do you think there's not a reason why the American market will soon be glutted with war films as we prepare for one? gee, i wonder. Riefenstahl is an amazing director, one that should have done more films. When we censor great works for fear of "what they might do to the 'ignorant'", we're a lot closer to the fascists than their detractors.

Whatever ones beliefs this is amazing. Leni Riefenstahl was a great director with amazing vision.Not alone is there all the marching and saluting which one would expect from a documentary filmed in Nazi Germany but Riefenstahl also gives snap shots of the people who are in the crowd at the various events.The looks of amazement and zeal on the faces of many who are watching is testimony, in my opinion ,to how mesmerizing an event this was.Riefenstahl captures the atmosphere and the excitement of this event.The last seen where Hitler is giving a fiery speech shows Riefenstahls genius at work.The camera angles are amazing and give a feeling of being there.I would highly recommend this not only to historians but also to students of film.

No matter what you think of Nazis this film is brilliant. It was the first of the kind political documentary. The beginning may bore some viewers, but those who stay will be rewarded by some of the most famous documentary footage ever shot. I feel I could see this movie a few times without being bored. In fact, the more you watch the more fun it is.

After winning elections, the National Socialist Party of Germany held a congress in 1934, a demonstration of force that was filmed "to show the world the triumph of the will of the German people." From the opening when the Führer literally arrives from heaven and the healthy, disciplined and pure Arian party members gather in Nuremberg, the documentary goes from the particular to the general with clever audiovisual manipulation, through marches, speeches and banners, turning the masses that celebrate the triumph of their will into a perfect piece of architecture, a magnificent structure that is reduced to the power of the Party. For decades, this so-called work of "reactionary modernism" was dismissed after the revelation of the Nazis' iniquity. However, after emotions are subdued, the masterfulness of director Leni Riefenstahl is evident (see "Die Match der Bilder.") In this and her 1938 film of the Olympic Games in Berlin, "Olympia", she coined techniques that today are common place in the entertainment industry. So don't be surprised if today you watch a football game with technical solutions of Nazi origin...

....although, in this case, once may be more than enough for some people. It's technically innovative, with several amazing camera shots, but the content is hollow and repetitive; if you make it through the endless parade footage, Hitler's final speech is the most inflammatory - and revealing. One thing that is made clear, however, is how hypocritical it is to retroactively condemn director Leni Riefenstahl for being seduced by the Nazi ideology at that point in time, when millions of Germans (and others around the world) were far more vocal in their support of the Fuhrer. *** out of 4.