The Triumph of the Will is widely considered - and considered for the worse - to be the most effective piece of political propaganda ever produced. When you consider the amount of propaganda that has been given to the world by oligarchs and dictators everywhere this is no small feat. This Nazi propaganda film was the creation and work of Leni Riefenstahl, an actress turned director whose dubious relationship with Hitler led her to conceive, direct, produce, edit and co-write what amounted to a documentary about the 1934 Nazi Party Congress in Nuremberg, otherwise known as the Nuremberg Rally. These rallies had been held annually since 1923 but they increased in importance, size and attendance in 1933 after Adolf Hitler rose to power. Riefenstahl commemorated the 1938 rally which drew a record-shattering seven hundred thousand Nazi supporting attendees.
The film focuses predominantly on speeches given by Nazi leaders at the rally, specifically Adolf Hitler, Rudolf Hess, and Julius Streicher, with footage of an enthusiastic and supportive public spliced in. Hitler was extremely involved in the film (as well as with Riefenstahl) and his name is actually featured in the credits. He is idolized in the film, shown as the great leader, Germany's great hope, who will bring the nation back to glorious importance and victory.
Riefenstahl was a talented film-maker, despite her destructive subject matter. She was one of the first propaganda film makers to make a propaganda film in the same way a feature film would be made, and to consider how entertaining it was to be just as important as the message it was carrying. She was the first to use music to create an inspiring soundtrack. She also uses long lenses which distorts the perspective of the footage, giving the impression that there are many more supporters present than is actually the case. Her military filming is usually done aerially which gives the impression of a terrifying show of force.
Not surprisingly, the film was extremely popular within Hitler's closest circle and within the nation as a whole, who embraced Hitler and what they saw as the glory that he was bringing to their country. Riefenstahl won several awards for the film, not surprisingly in Germany, but somewhat more surprisingly in other countries as well, including France and Sweden. After the war, the adulation dried up somewhat; Triumph of the Will hampered Riefenstahl's ability to continue her career in the way that she wanted to, but what was more damaging was the blurred nature of her relationship with Hitler; they were close collaborators and friends, to say the least, and neither ever confirmed or denied a romantic attachment. For her part, Riefenstahl had stars in her eyes when it came to the German dictator, and for years after the war was the last surviving member of his trusted inner circle. Her cinematic vision for the Holocaust was essential to its success and after the war she was arrested, but the only charge that could be made to stick was that of Nazi sympathizer, and she was released from custody without charge. Riefenstahl denied knowing about the Holocaust for the rest of her life, but given that she was so close to Hitler, and so instrumental in the propagandizing of his plans, it is a difficult claim to believe.
In 2000, Jodie Foster planned a biopic about Riefenstahl but was warned against glamorizing her in any way, and war historians were wary of anything that could be seen as revisionist being produced that might minimize Riefenstahl's involvement with Hitler n any way, or make her seem more like an innocent bystander than a member of the elite, tight-knit inner circle.
Nowadays, the film is not exactly banned in Germany; it can be shown for educational purposes only.
