Here's my ridiculously wordy review of
Triumph of the Will. Only read it if it amuses you.
Leni Riefenstahl has always fascinated me the way a cobra is supposed to affect small birds. I see what’s wrong with her, but can’t turn away.
Triumph of the Will is a masterpiece of propaganda, and I feel its power, but I’m not caught, I have a reaction of horror. You can see the whole future here. It starts off softly, with the beautiful rooftops of Nuremberg, Hitler smiling at the masses, the adoring looks of women giving him flowers. There is the glorification of physical prowess: the youths wrestling and playing games. Then the pulling together of the various cultures of Germany, which hasn’t been a united country for even a century: good Aryan faces answering “where are you from?”—“I’m from Friesland”, “I’m from Bavaria”, “I’m from the Danube”, etc, but we’re all part of the whole—“Ein Volk, ein Land”. (One people, one country)
Militarism pushes in with the workers handling their spades like rifles, and you start to see fanaticism and obedience. Look at the young drummer boys, at about 42 minutes, particularly one very young one who seems totally obsessed. We first see the goosestep about half way through, done by the SA or SS (I’m not sure which; they were both onstage). It reappears later. There are wonderful images—a forest of Nazi flags dimly seen marching through the dusk toward a gleaming column which turns out to be the tall podium from which Hitler is about to give a speech, surmounted by a large gleaming eagle.
Of course there is an infinity of political speeches, mostly mercifully short. Hitler was supposed to be able to mesmerize audiences with his charismatic speaking presence, but I don’t see it.
The last part almost totally shows military might, more and more scenes of marching troops. The goosestep reappears, becoming more extreme. It ends with Hitler’s final speech, followed by a large illuminated circle containing the swastika, swelling to fill the screen, then obscured by a rising file of marching troops. Brr.
Music is used very effectively. I didn’t recognize much, except for a few whiffs of Wagner, and, in the scene where they are lowering flags to the ground in tribute, the military funeral song “Ich hatt’ einen Kameraden” (I had a comerade).
There are predictions of the future throughout, but here are two bits from Hitler’s final speech:
Even when our party only consisted of seven men, it proclaimed two principles. First, it wanted to be a party with a world view. And second, it wanted sole power in Germany, without compromise.
The German people are happy in the knowledge that the divisions of the past have been replaced by a high standard leading the nation. We carry the best blood and we know this. We have resolved to keep the leadership of the nation, and never give it up!
Antisemitism isn’t emphasized, but the swastika had already been a symbol for it for some years.
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/576371/swastikaIt’s interesting to see that a lot of the swastikas are still horizontal. They are still in transition from symbolizing the footprints of the Buddha to the evil symbol they became.
