O Dia da Liberdade

Dealing with self esteem issues after being slighted in Triumph of the Will, Nazi brass ordered director Leni Riefenstahl to make this valentine to the armed forces. Somewhat ragged and loosely edited Riefenstahl does offer up an imposing vision of German military might but where Triumph was measured and graceful Day of Freedom is chaotic and rushed. The unimaginative foley artist work is also an indication Riefenstahl was distracted expediting matters in order to prepare for the Olympia docs. All in all a sloppy concession to a military spoiling for a fight, albeit an intimidating one to the public of the day.

Tag der Freiheit - Unsere Wehrmacht (1935)

*** (out of 4)

When Leni Riefenstahl made TRIUMPH OF THE WILL, apparently Adolf Hitler felt that it didn't show off the German Army enough so this short was made. This here was meant to show off how strong the German Army was but of course what happened over the next several years has tainted the film and even Riefenstahl's legacy.

There's no question that this here is a visual masterpiece, although it's certainly not on the same level as TRIUMPH OF THE WILL. With that being said, I think this film is a lot more entertaining to watch since it's just 17-minutes. What we've basically got here are clips of the German soldiers doing their daily routine but it's the masterful camerawork that really sells the film. I really loved how Riefenstahl shot the movie with the camera down low, looking up towards people and making them appear much bigger. The way the sun is high above them beating down just added a surreal touch.

Of course, it's impossible to watch this film without looking at these soldiers and wondering what horrors they committed during WWII. You can't help but think which one of them were killed in battle. Which one of them worked at the camps where millions of Jews were killed. The ugliness hangs its head all over the film.

I saw this movie and felt the power of the German Armed Forces. It is something to think that in just 4 years, they were at war.

This is nothing but a prowess of the powerful German army right after the NSDAP seized power. It has quite a misleading title as there is not a image of freedom in sight, maybe that was directed at the Reichsparteitag day? Anyway, you get to see soldiers marching, cannons firing and cavalry galloping through "lakes". All made to look quite menacing and threatening, successfully so. There are machine-gunners who jump off quick driving cars (dont know how much this is sped up..) and setting up their machine guns in no time that was very impressive. Also there is some pictures of Nazi flags and the Führer with his associates, serving to glorify the party. All in all its very impersonal, we see a machinery at the party's disposal, nothing about freedom.

Oh, and those airplanes flying in sun-cross formation was very impressive, real or not.

As usual Leni Riefenstahl did a better than average job to accomplish the propaganda duties she had with the National Socialist Party of Germany. Although she would have preferred to have this short disappear, "Tag der Freiheit" has survived as another example of her ability to address ideological issue through montage (of pre-existent footage and material shot under her direction), and in this case without dialogue or narration. The idea was to boast of the strenght of the Nazis' party, with images of its members and the German armed forces. Apparently she was not able to do what she wanted, but the result was not that visually execrable. She would have full control of her work for the Nazis, in the subsequent two masterpieces she made.