Amazon.com Essentials:
Triumph of the Will is one of the most important films
ever made. Not because it documents evil--more watchable examples are
being made today. And not as a historical example of blind
propaganda--those (much shorter) movies are merely laughable now. No,
Riefenstahl's masterpiece--and it is a masterpiece, politics
aside--combines the strengths of documentary and propaganda into a
single, overwhelmingly powerful visual force.
Riefenstahl was hired by the Reich to create an eternal record of the
1934 rally at Nuremberg, and that's exactly what she does. You might
not become a Nazi after watching her film, but you will understand too
clearly how Germany fell under Hitler's spell. The early crowd scenes
remind one of nothing so much as Beatles concert footage (if only
their fans were so well behaved!).
Like the fascists it monumentalizes, Triumph of the Will
overlooks its own weaknesses--at nearly two hours, the speeches tend
to drone on, and the repeated visual motifs are a little
over-hypnotic, especially for modern viewers. But the occasional
iconic vista (banners lining the streets of Nuremberg, Hitler parting
a sea of 200,000 party members standing at attention) will electrify
anyone into wakefulness. --Grant Balfour
