Triumph of the Will
Written by Leni Riefenstahl, Walter Ruttmann, Eberhard Taubert
Directed by Leni Riefenstahl
Germany, 1935
It is never easy to look at Leni Riefenstahl’s Triumph of the Will as anything other than what Dr. Anthony Santoro quite rightly calls a “supreme propaganda film.” As that, it is nearly unparalleled in the dubious annals of film history. Contributing to its difficulty in terms of analysis, however, is the fact that it is, at the same time, more than simply a notorious document of evil in bloom. For all the troublesome features that recurrently arise through the course of this film—the domineering presence of Adolf Hitler being just one obvious example—this is one remarkably well-crafted motion picture. Its status as the ultimate work of cinematic propaganda is, indeed, a direct result of just how superbly powerful, sadly persuasive, and expertly realized the documentary is, for better or worse.
Written by Leni Riefenstahl, Walter Ruttmann, Eberhard Taubert
Directed by Leni Riefenstahl
Germany, 1935
It is never easy to look at Leni Riefenstahl’s Triumph of the Will as anything other than what Dr. Anthony Santoro quite rightly calls a “supreme propaganda film.” As that, it is nearly unparalleled in the dubious annals of film history. Contributing to its difficulty in terms of analysis, however, is the fact that it is, at the same time, more than simply a notorious document of evil in bloom. For all the troublesome features that recurrently arise through the course of this film—the domineering presence of Adolf Hitler being just one obvious example—this is one remarkably well-crafted motion picture. Its status as the ultimate work of cinematic propaganda is, indeed, a direct result of just how superbly powerful, sadly persuasive, and expertly realized the documentary is, for better or worse.
- 1/3/2016
- by Jeremy Carr
- SoundOnSight
From the invention of horror under the Weimar republic to recent re-examinations of the second world war, German cinema has an amazingly creative history
German cinema got off to a fantastic start straight after the first world war, as the liberal atmosphere of the Weimar republic triggered an explosion across all creative disciplines. Film-makers responded by appropriating the techniques of expressionist painting and theatre, incorporating them into twisted tales of madness and terror – thereby virtually inventing what would become known as the horror film. With its angled, distorted set designs, tortured eye-rolling, and layers of dreams and visions, The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (1920) is generally acknowledged as a landmark of international cinema, not just Germany's own. Two years later came an equally groundbreaking film, Nosferatu – an unauthorised adaptation of Bram Stoker's novel Dracula that enshrined some of the creepiest cinema images ever recorded.
They also marked the beginning of...
German cinema got off to a fantastic start straight after the first world war, as the liberal atmosphere of the Weimar republic triggered an explosion across all creative disciplines. Film-makers responded by appropriating the techniques of expressionist painting and theatre, incorporating them into twisted tales of madness and terror – thereby virtually inventing what would become known as the horror film. With its angled, distorted set designs, tortured eye-rolling, and layers of dreams and visions, The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (1920) is generally acknowledged as a landmark of international cinema, not just Germany's own. Two years later came an equally groundbreaking film, Nosferatu – an unauthorised adaptation of Bram Stoker's novel Dracula that enshrined some of the creepiest cinema images ever recorded.
They also marked the beginning of...
- 3/15/2011
- by Andrew Pulver
- The Guardian - Film News
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