Whether they know it or not, most Americans are at least somewhat familiar with Leni Riefenstahl’s “Triumph of the Will.” Almost every documentary you have ever seen about Hitler or the Third Reich contains footage from this Nazi propaganda movie. It has also influenced the way movies are made because it introduced a number of revolutionary movie-making techniques. Although its original intention was to white-wash the Nazi movement, it remains one of the great masterpiece films of the 20th century.
By 1934, the yearly Nazi party rally in Nuremberg, Germany was an established tradition. Since Hitler had just come to power as German Chancellor in early 1933, the 1934 was much larger and much more elaborate than anything that had preceded it. As many as a million Germans traveled to Germans to take part in the rally, many in the hopes of getting a glimpse of the new German leader. Hitler, always the master propagandist, realized that the rally would make an excellent propaganda opportunity and commissioned a 31 year old female German actress and director, Leni Riefenstahl, to make a film about it.
Riefenstahl was given an essentially unlimited budget and almost total control of the rally. Using 30 cameras operated by 120 technicians, she captured hours and hours of footage from the week long rally. She was even allowed to stage certain shots and, when necessary, have Hitler and others repeat actions. For example, the scene of Hitler’s motorcade ride into the city includes many shots from the Hitler’s car, but also several shots of the car from above as it passes through the streets lined with people. To avoid showing the camera mounted in the car in the overhead shots, Riefenstahl had to have the entrance into Nuremberg repeated at least once.
Perhaps the most memorable scene in the film shows the procession of the SA and the SS and Nuremberg stadium. Thousands upon thousands of Brownshirts stand in perfect formation, while Hitler and two of his henchmen walk down a wide pathway through the troop formations to lay a ceremonial wreath at a memorial to the Nazis who died in the failed 1924 putsch attempt. It is one of the most impressive scenes ever captured on film and has inspired countless movies including Star Wars. Think of the last scene in which the three heroes receive their medals in front of legions of Rebel soldiers in formation.
Surprisingly, or perhaps not, Triumph of the Will is rather uplifting. It attempts to show Hitler and his Third Reich in the best possible light, so it includes almost no mention to the Jews, communism, rearmament, or any other controversial policy. Given that many Germans had little first hand experience with the Nazis when the movie was released in 1936, it is unsurprising that the film was so successful in convincing many Germans that the Nazis were a positive force for change in a Germany that needed change badly.
