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For almost a century, Leni Riefenstahl’s Triumph of the Will (Triumph des Willens) has reigned as the most controversial documentary ever made, a “cinema masterpiece,” according to film historian Amos Vogel, “a huge and disturbing film spectacle.” Capturing the pageantry of the 1934 Nuremberg congress, Triumph of the Will is a sensory tableau that celebrates the nation’s resurgence in the aftermath of a crushing economic depression. Riefenstahl commanded a squad of photographers and oversaw the editing of the film, crafting a landmark of documentary cinema, even as it permanently stained the reputation of the filmmaker. Riefenstahl spent a lifetime trying to disassociate herself from the Nazi leadership, but her complicity with Hitler is now uniquivocal, and no matter how artistically rendered, Triumph of the Will was used to fertilize the rise of the Third Reich.
leni riefenstahl's classic piece of historical filmmaking, filmed during the 1934 nazi party rally in nuremberg, germany, is considered by many to be one of the most important and controversial films ever made. the film, realized by paul joseph goebbels, hitler's reich minister for public enlightenment and propaganda, was created to influence all of germany to support the "power" of the nazi party. all during world war 2 in every theatre in germany, either part or all of triumph of the will was shown. funded entirely by the n.s.d.a.p. (the nazy party), hitler hired the young actress/director leni riefenstahl to direct. money was unlimited, so riefenstahl was eating and sleeping in the editing room with hundreds of thousands of feet of film for several months. all of the shots in triumph are carefully constructed. sets were specially built to accommodate cameras and hitler was filmed separately from the crowds so riefenstahl could edit together a film that would manipulate imagery and seduce the mind. an historically significant and, at times, horrifyingly manipulative exercise in propaganda for the nazi regime, triumph of the will contiues to be controversial over sixty years after its original release. this historical document has been unavailable in germany for many decades and leni riefenstahl has since come under fire for her personal relationship with adolph hitler, spending her life in the shadow of collaborating with the nazi party.
