The most notorious propaganda film ever made, "Triumph of the Will" documents the 1934 Nazi party congress in Nuremberg, Germany. Adolf Hitler had become dictator the year before, and spared no expense to stage an incredibly elaborate glorification of his power.

Leni Riefenstahl was personally selected by Hitler to film the speeches, parades and ceremonies. Hitler had seen her 1931 film "The Blue Light", which she had directed, edited and cowritten. Her first assignment for Hitler was 1933's "Victory of the Faith", a smaller production. But "Triumph of the Will" was done on a much more massive scale. She used thirty cameras and well over a hundred crewmembers. Cranes, carts, and even cameramen on roller skates were used to photograph the spectacle. In all, 61 hours of footage was taken, which was carefully edited to under two hours.

Early scenes show Hitler landing in Nuremberg to a hero's welcome. The next morning, we see soldiers camped in an endless field of tents. The young men romp wildly, seemingly ecstatic to be living under Fascism. Once they have been organized, the smiling faces turn to business.

The choreography is both stunning and tedious. Two hundred thousand soldiers marching in formation, in a stadium seating another hundred thousand. One wonders how many tens of thousands of these young men would die in the world war that Hitler caused. Hitler moves men like a magnet moves fragments of metal. The endless marching, the shouts of 'Sieg Heil', the stiff armed salutes, the fiery speeches about uniting under Hitler.

The surprise is how boring it all is. Even Hitler's three speeches are sleep-inducing. While he invariably works himself into a frenzy, it is clearly all an act, and the message is always the same. Germany is a mighty nation again, fanatically united under the Fuhrer. Other Nazi leaders refer to Hitler as 'My Fuhrer', conferring upon him status not only as a dictator but as the father of his country. All your favorite Nazi leaders give heavily edited speeches, including Goebbels, Goring, Himmler and Rudolf Hess.

Riefenstahl later directed "Olympia", which documented the 1936 Olympic Games held in Berlin. Her next effort was "Tiefland", a costume drama filmed in 1943 but not released until 1954. After World War II, she was arrested by the French as a war criminal, but released soon after. Although born in 1902, she is still alive today, and remains unapologetic about her films made under Nazi authority. (57/100)



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