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As far as the film making aspect goes: (cinematography and editing), director/producer/editor Leni Riefenstahl did amazing work and she worked harder on this film than most film makers will ever dream of doing.
Film maker Leni Riefenstahl behind the camera with one helluva a big telephoto lens, during filming of Triumph of the Will.
Let's face it, it's hard to make a political rally look exciting. She did a stunning job of telling the back story of the Nuremberg Nazi Party Congress of 1934, without boring the audience.
We get a brief prologue that lets the viewer know that Germany had suffered after World War 1 ...and that the country was in shambles until 19 months earlier when Adolf Hitler had come to power. According to the film, everything in Germany is now rosy.
Then we see that amazing flight through the clouds, as the Fuhrer makes his way to the waiting masses at Nuremberg. We see the medieval town of Nuremberg appear from the mist. We're then treated to many beautiful views of buildings that years latter would be pummeled by falling bombs. And that's when I felt a knot in my stomach...as the camera flies over a quaint street in Nuremberg, I remembered seeing the same buildings in a film made after the war, only then they were bombed out shells.
On the ground, Leni shows us the excited crowds. They were so enthusiastic too as they stood shoulder to shoulder, sealed in a moment and frozen on film, like fossils on a cliff wall. As you look at those town folks remember a sad fact, most will be dead in 10 years time...By 1945 many millions of people will had lost their lives.
Funny how the scenes of the soup kitchen and the cooking of bratwurst looked almost idyllic as bonfires were lit and the Nazi youth for a moment are only youths having fun on a summer day. As odd as it might sound there's real hope in the faces of those youth. But they're just expendable pawns with no idea what their leader has in store for the world. I can't help but think that the German people were like all people who need hope, desperately willing to following what ever path comes their way as long as it promises a better future.
If the Nazis are good for one thing, it's making a spectacle on a grand scale. They look formidable, unstoppable too. At times they even look benign, at other times the adage, 'mob rules' seems coined just for them.
This photo really puts things into a historical perspective. That's Leni in the foreground with Adolph Hitler on the stage. Photo taken during her filming of the Reich Party Day in Nuremberg, Germany, 1936.
I watched Triumph of the Will a few months ago. I'm interested in history and have seen much about WWII. But the one factor that never seems to get covered in films is why did the German people fall under the spell of Hitler? How could such things as concentration camps happen? What did the German people see that made them want to go down that path?
I found that answer in Triumph of the Will...or more accurately it's what I didn't find that answered my questions.
Triumph of the Will (1935)
Triumph des Willens (original title)
Director: Leni Riefenstahl
Writers: Leni Riefenstahl, Walter Ruttmann
Producer: Leni Riefenstahl
Editor: Leni Riefenstahl
Genre: Historical Political Documentary
How do I rate this? If I went with my gut instinct, I'd say: Nazis bad, Score 0...But this review is about the film itself and not the Nazis. My review is based on the film making skills of Leni Riefenstahl, who was once considered the world's greatest woman director. The notoriety of this film would ultimately end Leni's brilliant career.Triumph des Willens (original title)
Director: Leni Riefenstahl
Writers: Leni Riefenstahl, Walter Ruttmann
Producer: Leni Riefenstahl
Editor: Leni Riefenstahl
Genre: Historical Political Documentary
Leni Riefenstahl's tour de force documentary film chronicling the 1934 Nazi Party rally in Nuremberg, Germany.
As far as the film making aspect goes: (cinematography and editing), director/producer/editor Leni Riefenstahl did amazing work and she worked harder on this film than most film makers will ever dream of doing.
Film maker Leni Riefenstahl behind the camera with one helluva a big telephoto lens, during filming of Triumph of the Will.
Let's face it, it's hard to make a political rally look exciting. She did a stunning job of telling the back story of the Nuremberg Nazi Party Congress of 1934, without boring the audience.
We get a brief prologue that lets the viewer know that Germany had suffered after World War 1 ...and that the country was in shambles until 19 months earlier when Adolf Hitler had come to power. According to the film, everything in Germany is now rosy.
Then we see that amazing flight through the clouds, as the Fuhrer makes his way to the waiting masses at Nuremberg. We see the medieval town of Nuremberg appear from the mist. We're then treated to many beautiful views of buildings that years latter would be pummeled by falling bombs. And that's when I felt a knot in my stomach...as the camera flies over a quaint street in Nuremberg, I remembered seeing the same buildings in a film made after the war, only then they were bombed out shells.
On the ground, Leni shows us the excited crowds. They were so enthusiastic too as they stood shoulder to shoulder, sealed in a moment and frozen on film, like fossils on a cliff wall. As you look at those town folks remember a sad fact, most will be dead in 10 years time...By 1945 many millions of people will had lost their lives.
Funny how the scenes of the soup kitchen and the cooking of bratwurst looked almost idyllic as bonfires were lit and the Nazi youth for a moment are only youths having fun on a summer day. As odd as it might sound there's real hope in the faces of those youth. But they're just expendable pawns with no idea what their leader has in store for the world. I can't help but think that the German people were like all people who need hope, desperately willing to following what ever path comes their way as long as it promises a better future.
If the Nazis are good for one thing, it's making a spectacle on a grand scale. They look formidable, unstoppable too. At times they even look benign, at other times the adage, 'mob rules' seems coined just for them.
This photo really puts things into a historical perspective. That's Leni in the foreground with Adolph Hitler on the stage. Photo taken during her filming of the Reich Party Day in Nuremberg, Germany, 1936.
I watched Triumph of the Will a few months ago. I'm interested in history and have seen much about WWII. But the one factor that never seems to get covered in films is why did the German people fall under the spell of Hitler? How could such things as concentration camps happen? What did the German people see that made them want to go down that path?
I found that answer in Triumph of the Will...or more accurately it's what I didn't find that answered my questions.