Directed by:
Leni RiefenstahlScreenplay:
Leni RiefenstahlComposer:
Herbert WindtCast:
Adolf Hitler, Joseph Goebbels, Julius Streicher, Max Amann, Martin Bormann, Walter Buch, Walter Darré, Otto Dietrich, Reinhard Heydrich, Sepp Dietrich (more)VOD (1)
Plots(1)
Propagandist documentary on the Third Reich's First Party Congress held in Nuremberg, Germany in 1934. (official distributor synopsis)
Reviews (5)
Those monsters knew very well what they were doing and how, and Triumph of the Will fulfilled its purpose in the sense that it emphasized, not only to the German fanatics of the time, but also to all future uninitiated generations, how far a nation in its entire generational scope can go when it allows itself to be swept away by fierce nationalism and a sense of its own superiority. And while this message served as a tool to consolidate Nazi power and was the pinnacle of sophisticated propaganda, now it functions instead as an important warning and perhaps even a lesson. No matter how elaborate or simple it is, this documentary will always be a powerful and stimulating historical reflection.
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The most meticulous preparation, more than generous production resources, 120 collaborators (including Albert Speer, chief architect of the Third Reich), eighteen camera crews – Leni Riefenstahl filmed the second part of her Nuremberg trilogy in royal conditions, thus a bit beyond the reality that the film does not reflect. The editing composition (cutting between close-ups and long shots during speeches – the cheering crowd must be seen in order to multiply the emotional impact of the shots), the well-thought-out rhythm (more spirited martial and “physical” x more lyrical architectural and folkloric passages), the “strategic” placement of Nazi symbols in the mise-en-scéne. Triumph of the Will was filmed with such (militaristic) zeal and sense of grandeur and edited with such confidence that you probably won’t even register its lies at first (cuts to shots that were clearly filmed at a different time and in a different place). This is Hitler as he wanted to be seen (and seen constantly, independent of what else was happening in Nuremberg). Whatever the director said after the war, Triumph of the Will is not an objective documentary, though scenes from it later appeared in a number of non-Nazi, non-propaganda documentaries. Triumph of the Will is a brilliantly perverse work. 75%
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Fascinating, scary, monstrous. Nazism as a cinematic religion... Riefenstahl had a great talent, but unfortunately, to whom she lent it was all the more visible. Yet, if I free myself from all moralistic judgments, there is something monstrously hypnotic about it. If you are interested in film as a servant and carrier of ideology, then this work is a complete canon of manipulation of the viewer. It is condemnable, and yet The Triumph of the Will should not be forgotten. At least as a warning against the propaganda mechanism, because it still works today...
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Propaganda firsthand. Still, Leni Riefenstahl can bring the technical side close to perfection, but the content sucks the blood out of me even a century later. I understand that Triumph of the Will should be taken with irony, but apart from the ambiguous feeling of peeking under the Nazi lid at something almost intangible, I can't take anything from it. That said, it can function as a tell-all film as well as a warning.
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It's hard to watch this film without seeing the atrocities that followed, but it's still incredible what the film achieved and what the relatively young Leni Riefenstahl accomplished. At the age of thirty-one, she filmed a monumental celebration of Hitler and the Third Reich, which contains elements that many contemporary filmmakers struggle to incorporate into their films. Yes, she had the support of the party, which manifested in excellent aerial shots, but the angles she chose, the compositions, and the shots she captured were simply incredible. It's all the more chilling when one realizes what the film achieved and what it propagated. A cinematically stunning work... unfortunately, what came after serves as an example of how film can be misused.
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