Jeremy King

Many experts on film like to call Triumph of the Will the greatest propaganda movie ever made. Adolf Hitler commissioned it from Leni Riefenstahl, a young German actress and movie director. Her task was to immortalize the sixth congress of the Nazi Party at Nuremberg, held in September of 1934 – less than two years after the Nazi seizure of power. She had already filmed the fifth congress, in 1933, and had learned from the troubles of that foray into shooting, live, a vast outdoor rally. Riefenstahl received almost unlimited support from the new regime for her second attempt, and thus could film with advance knowledge of the program, with multiple camera crews, and with expensive, custom-made technical gear.

Visible in Triumph of the Will, often at extremely close range, are Hitler; his Minister of Propaganda, Joseph Goebbels; and other top Nazis. Missing is the head of the Storm Troopers (S.A.), Ernst Roehm. At the 1933 congress, he had stood quite close to Hitler, and had ranked clearly as the second in command. Less than 3 months before the 1934 congress, however, Hitler had ordered Roehm, together with many other S.A. leaders, murdered. The original, uncut version of the film runs about two hours, but we will be viewing an edited version that runs about 80 minutes. It preserves the straightforward, chronological arrangement of the original – from Hitler’s triumphant arrival in Nuremberg, through tumultuous parades, and on to speeches to hushed masses by Hitler, by Goebbels, and by others.

Anyone who watches Triumph of the Will today should keep a few considerations in mind. First, Riefenstahl’s film gave many Germans (and non-Germans) their first glimpse of a walking, talking Hitler. Second, Riefenstahl employed technologies and techniques so innovative at the time as to have been almost certain to make a deep impression on viewers. “Talkie” movies had existed for less than a decade, while both non-fixed cameras and cutting rooms were still in their infancy. Third, the Second World War and the Holocaust remained as yet in the mists of the future.

After 1945, Riefenstahl escaped serious punishment for her involvement with the Nazi regime, in part because she had never formally joined the Nazi Party. Several times over the following decades, she attempted to re-enter the world of film – with a collection of still photographs that she took of the Nuba people in Africa, for example. Each time, critics reminded the public of her past, and claimed to find disturbing, fascist aesthetics in her art. Riefenstahl herself still lives – and is nearly 100 years old. Unrepentant and even defiant, she has stated repeatedly that she merely recorded the Nuremberg rally in 1934. She sees Triumph of the Will not as propaganda but as a documentary. Politics, she maintains, was not the point, and thus should not be the focus when people watch her work.

Readings.

1. Cowell, Alan. “Admire Her Art? (Her Camera Adored Swastikas).” New York Times, 21 August 1997, p. A4.

2. Sontag, Susan. “Fascinating Fascism.” In Under the Sign of Saturn. New York: Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 1980, pp. 73-105. [First published 1975.] Excerpt: pp. 73-98.

3. Morris, Gary. “Lonesome Leni.” http://www.brightlightsfilm.com/26/riefenstahl.html

Questions for Response (write a comment on one and post it before class).

1. Where in Triumph of the Will does primary-source documentary leave off and propaganda begin

– if indeed that is the case?

2. How does art fit into the dichotomy of documentary vs. propaganda – or for that matter, into politics more generally? Do not neglect to marshal evidence here.

3. What techniques does Riefenstahl employ in filming Hitler as he travels by car to the rally, and as he gives his speech? What, if anything, does she argue by using those techniques?

Questions for Discussion.

1. Riefenstahl “succeeded” in one sense or other in what was, without doubt, a man’s world. Could she be called a feminist?

2. Prepare to take either side in the Sontag-Riefenstahl debate.

3. Did Riefenstahl commit any crime? How does History “judge”?

Additional questions, for students doing presentation: What is the historical context of this film? What should viewers know, and what must Riefenstahl herself have known at the time?

Guide to Further Reading

Hinton, David. The Films of Leni Riefenstahl. Metuchen: Scarecrow Press, 1978.

Mueller, Ray. The Wonderful, Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl. New York: Kino International, 1993. [Video documentary – highly recommended]

Riefenstahl, Leni. The Last of the Nuba. New York: Harper and Row, 1974.

________. The Sieve of Time. The Memoirs of Leni Riefenstahl. London: Quartet Books, 1992.

Schiff, Stephen. Interview with Leni Riefenstahl. Vanity Fair, volume 55, No. 9 (September 1992), pp. 252-96.

http://www.german_way.com/cinema/rief.html