Discuss Triumph of the Will
Discuss → Movies → Triumph of the Will → General
Arguably the greatest propaganda film of all time
posted by PT 100STAFFMOD on November 6, 2019 at 9:41 PM
Say what you will about Leni Riefenstahl and her association with the Nazis, but this is probably the single greatest propaganda film ever made. It is chilling in its emotional power; and its target audience (the German people of the time) was probably overwhelmed by it. It is impossible to describe it accurately; you must see it yourself.
In her long life (1902-2003) she made other powerful films, for either entertainment (e.g., the visually stunning The Blue Light), propaganda or both (e.g., Olympia Part One and Olympia Part Two, about the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games); and later in her career she finished with beautiful nature/oceanographic films. She tried to escape her early filmmaking reputation, but it dogged her throughout the rest of her life.
Reply by catmydogs
on November 7, 2019 at 2:46 PM
One might argue that Battleship Potemkin was a better “propaganda” film, too, but that and politics aside, I agree that Triumph of the Will is a remarkable and peerless film for a documentary.
Reply by Zürich Gnome
on November 9, 2019 at 11:19 PM
It was both a brilliant propaganda film and a brilliant documentary. This and the Olympia series are landmarks in film-making, irrespective of their politics, and are a clever--and somewhat sinister--blending of both documentary and propaganda. I think they tried to pass them off as documentaries, but they simply couldn't disguise their other purpose.
Reply by genplant29
on November 10, 2019 at 4:42 AM
I agree with everything each of you have stated.
It's been several years since I watched this film. While I don't overall remember much about it, I do recall how commanding and visually impressive it is.