Le triomphe de la volonté

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.

This is the thinking person's horror film. Zombies? Ghosts? Lunatics with hockey masks and chainsaws generating gallons of fake blood? Not a tiny bit as scary as thousands upon thousands of people lined up in squares, gleefully losing their individual identities and glorifying in the group, willing to perform some of the most evil deeds imaginable for the perceived benefit of that whole.

If this film was done badly, it would be something to laugh at or study as a historical artifact, a relic of a past we left behind. However, its power, and why it can disturb to this very day, is the fact that it was done beautifully. Anyone who talks about equating "truth and beauty" should think about this film. It is certainly beautiful, but it is also in the service of a lie, and an evil one at that.

Sadly, I suspect that the types who make modern political propaganda and advertising get on their knees at night and pray for some of the inspiration that made this film. Stars? This film defies a star rating.

Triumph Des Willens was a blockbuster film in a number of ways. It was meant to be a proper memorializing of an annual NSDAP Parteitag held in Nurenburg. A prior attempt, Sieg Des Glaubens, had proved to be a failure. Adolf Hitler gave director Leni Riefebstahl full rein to use all means to make this film the success which he wanted. First, many innovations in camera techniques, sound synchronization, storyboarding, staging, etc., made movie history. Second, it was an overt appeal to the emotions of both Germans and foreigners that suggested the excitement for and the apparent power of the new Third Reich. Third, the film was part of a multimedia campaign ahead of its time. Its success was confirmed for many years by the almost universal ban most countries placed on its showings. And sixty years later it is still effective in both thrills and chills. Highlights: the first 20 minutes or so resemble a media drama; the solemn military reviews demonstrate components of state power; speeches illustrate the personnel in power at the time. Quite a package!

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.

There is scarcely a review which doesn't focus on the meaning or message contained within this film.

I don't mean to suggest that those elements don't exist; I merely want to suggest that there is much more in this powerful film.

Like Olympia, this is a masterfully crafted work of art.