Review of Triumph of the Will (1935) by Kayvan T — 23 Jun 2012

I set this running, knowing it was regarded as possibly the most persuasive documentary of all time, with a slight fear that I'd be sucked into the Nazi cause. That didn't happen, but I did come away with the belief that this is a valuable document and an essential movie to watch. How can we fully think or talk about Nazi Germany without seeing it from the inside? The film gives us an appreciation not only of Nazism, but of any populist movement. We open, hearing of how Germany had been "crucified" and then see Germans happy, unified, being exhorted to serve a greater cause, and responding enthusiastically.

Frankly, it gave me pause in thinking of the possible blow back from countries such as Greece when they are demanded by foreign countries (notably Germany!) to cut back and sacrifice.

There are times when the film does get yawny - like a sequence showing Hitler's motorcade, trailed by thousands of marching Germans - that runs on for 18 minutes. Even so - what amazing editing! I often wondered how many cameras Riefenstahl had at her disposal. Every scene seems to be covered from a dozen or more angles - and so much of it had to be captured in the moment.