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| Stomp Visual (Australia). All Regions, NTSC. 4:3. German DD 2.0. English Subtitles. 106 minutes |
| The Movie |
| Cover Art |
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| Credits |
Director: Leni Riefenstahl
Starring: Adolf Hitler,
Nazis
Screenplay: Leni Riefenstahl,
Walter Ruttman
Country: Germany
AKA: Triumph des Willens
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Helene Riefenstahl aka Leni Riefenstahl started
her career in showbusiness as a dancer, not for
acclaim, but just to see what it felt like to perform.
From there she went onto movies, starring in films
by German film director, Arnold Fanck, who eventually
took her under his wing and taught her the ins and
outs of film directing. Triumph of the Will
aka Triumph des Willens will always
be her legacy. A propaganda film, commissioned by
the Nazi Party, Triumph of the Will scarred Riefenstahl's reputation, after World
War 2's revelation of atrocities, so much
so that she regretted ever making it, and did not
make a film between 1954 and 2002, due to the criticism
and accusation of Nazi sympathizing she received.
There is no story to Triumph of the Will,
no plot, no characters and no acting, and it is
not a documentary. Triumph of the Will is a propaganda film, commissioned by Paul Joseph
Goebbels, the Minister for Public Enlightenment
and Propaganda for the Nazi Party, to show it in
the most positive light possible, and to make Adolf
Hitler appear to be a messiah for the people of
Germany. This film was shot in 1934 throughout the
Nazi Party's annual Party Day of Victory,
which took place September 4th to the 10th, during
the Congress of the National Socialist German Workers
Army. The film features some amazing footage of
pre World War 2 Nuremberg, of which 95% was destroyed
during that war, and has been rebuilt closely to
the original design today, not to mention footage
of SS troops, Hitler Youth, and the actual speeches
of various National Socialist Party members to a
crowd of adoring fans. The crowds that gather to
see Hitler are various functions are of an Elvis
Presley or Beatle-mania size, or at the very least
appear to be that way, as in a propaganda film such
as this, it is hard to believe some of what you
see.
There is no doubt that Riefenstahl was an incredibly
talented filmmaker, and her cinematic eye was excellent,
but to your average Digital Retribution reader,
you may not find this interesting at all. A film
such as this would really only appeal to those who
are interested in Military history, or at an extreme
push, as a supplement to a Nazploitation collection. |
| Video |
| It is a black and white film that is over seventy
years old, so as you can imagine, the footage isn't
exactly that of a super hyper remastered studio
spectacular, but over and above its massive amount
of artefacts…it never becomes indistinguishable.
A nice picture considering its age! |
| Audio |
| The sound of Trumph of the Will is pretty average, but think of the age of the film.
It is still clear and audible, but it isn't
a surround sound stunner. |
| Extra Features |
The commentary of this disc is by Newport News
University historian Dr Anthony Santoro, and is
probably the most essential part of this disc.
His commentary gives the history behind the Nazi
Party, talks about World War 2 as a whole, and
also gives propaganda points from a cinematic
point of view as to why scenes were filmed in
particular ways to put the Nazis in a positive
and/ or powerful light, with the ultimate goal
of intimidating and recruiting the people of Germany
to its cause.
Day of Freedom (16 minutes 5 seconds) a.k.a. Tag
Der Freiheit is a short film by Riefenstahl showing
what could be described as a military tattoo of
the skills of the German army to its commanders.
Again the quality of this film is lacking, but
only due to the age of the film. Riefenstahl's
skills as a director are present and show that
she had a total understanding of the cinematic
influence on its viewer. |
| The Verdict |
This is an incredibly hard film to judge. How
does one review a 1 hour 45 minute long advertisement
for a political party? As a historical document,
it is fascinating. As a travelogue of pre World
War 2 Nuremberg, it is spectacular. As entertainment,
it is severely lacking. This is a film that only
becomes interesting when you discover the history
that goes along with it. There is no doubt there
is some rarely seen footage of speeches by members
of the Third Reich, but it only become of interest
with its supplementary material. The score of one
does not represent how well this package is presented,
or Riefenstahl's talent, but it does reflect
that this is a film really of interest to a slender
few.
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