Triumph Of The Will (1935) Leni Riefenstahl.
“We want to see
no more class divisions” - Hitler
Triumph of the Will is a propaganda documentary that takes a rose
tinted view of the activities of Germany's Nazi party after World War I and
before World War II. As the name suggests the films tone is one of triumphalism
and it is classed as a documentary, the term documentary in this case is only a
ruse. There is no genre for films that make fiction out of factual footage. The
use of the word triumph suggests an adversary but there is no representation of
an other within the film, there is
only one voice. Hitler is credited at the start of the film as having a role in
its production (“Produced by order of the Fuhrer”), this suggests a level of control
exerted over its production. The only voice in the film is that of the Nazi
party, and as this was controlled by Hitler the sole voice of the documenatry
could be said to be that of Hitlers.
Replete with
regalia and stiff arm salutes the films intention appears to be the repeated
reinforcement of the symbolism of the Nazi party. When released this film might
have had a small captive audience. A contemporary viewing with its dated format
and style of music positions the film as almost quaint in its naivety if not
for the atrocities that were since carried out by these same smiling subjects.
The content of
the film and the film itself are both propaganda, awareness of its flagrant subjectivity
becomes a lens through which the film is viewed.
The edited
snippets of speeches suggest that it was made to convince the contemporary
viewer as to the wisdom of the nazi party, not just to revel in triumphalism.
The film captures the synchronized aspect of conformity and features numerous
scenes of coordinated and systematic activities, there is no individual
representations of the people in the crowds. The crowd represents and manifests
the activities of the one voice.
The camera
techniques, the framing of the proceedings and the editing of this footage are
skilfully done and make it an easy watch despite its content and its message. At
110 minutes the films monotone and lack of narrative structure means that it is
a struggle to maintain interest for its full lenght.
No comments:
Post a Comment