Triumph des Willens

The film of the Sixth Party Rally of the National Socialists, which took place from September 4th to September 10th, 1934, in Nuremberg. This was Leni Riefenstahl's second — and only full-length — film for the National Socialist Party (NSDAP), and as an award-winning masterpiece of camerawork, direction and editing, it is widely agreed by virtually every film critic to be the greatest propaganda film of all time. As with the two other, shorter films which she did for the NSDAP, Der Sieg des Glaubens (1933) and the later Tag der Freiheit! — Unsere Wehrmacht! (1935), unlike the typical propaganda films put out by the Nazi party during that period, Triumph des Willens contains no running commentary and thus could technically rather be considered to be a documentary film, and with its style perhaps even an art film. However, the propagandistic political value of this film in promoting Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party is also clearly undeniable, its effect on the people of Germany and, indeed, the entire world is a matter of record and history, and in that regard it may very well be perhaps the most significant, most influential — and certainly the most infamously controversial — film of the 20th century.

Synopsis

The sequences (not including opening and closing titles/credits) from the film are:

1. Hitler's Arrival
2. Hitler's Serenade
3. The City Awakening
4. The Folk Parade
5. Opening of the Party Congress
6. Introduction of the Labour Corps
7. Lutze Addresses the SA
8. The Hitler Youth
9. Review of the Army
10. The Evening Rally
11. Hitler and the SA
12. The Parade
13. The Rally Closing

References

• Many thanks to Dr. Luc Deneulin for his extensive research and contribution!

Image Galleries

• None (at this time)

Historical Notes

"I deeply regret [...] this relationship with the Third Reich"

During the making of Ray Müller's 2003 film Ein Traum von Afrika, on Leni's last trip to see the Nuba (in 2000) she endured a terrible helicopter crash. As she recovered in her bed at the hospital, Müller had the following exchange with her:

Ray Müller: When you look back on your life, are there things that you regret, that you feel sorry for?

Leni Riefenstahl: Oh, yes, surely. I have made many, many mistakes in my life that I deeply regret. Yes, surely I have, of course.

RM: Which mistakes do you mean?

LR: Well... I mean, this relationship with the Third Reich.

"Being sorry isn't nearly enough [...] it expresses too little"

If Leni was at all vague about any remorse that she felt for the work she had done for the Nazi Party, perhaps she was more clear in Müller's 1993 film Die Macht der Bilder, when he bluntly asked her the question which so many had wanted to:

Ray Müller: I feel this country is still waiting for you to say publicly: "I made a mistake, I'm sorry—"

Leni Riefenstahl: Being sorry isn't nearly enough, but I can't tear myself apart or destroy myself. It's so terrible. I've suffered anyway for over half a century and it will never end, until I die. It's such an incredible burden, that to say sorry... it's inadequate, it expresses too little.

Analysis & Criticism (On-Site)

• None (at this time)

Web Links

Below are selected external links (to other sites) with information and/or articles about this film. External links to information about other Leni Riefenstahl films can be found in the Web Links section on the main pages for each of those films, or for more general information please see the Selected Leni Riefenstahl Links section of this site.

• Australian National University collection of photos from Triumph des Willens
• Community and Triumph of the Will
  

  An essay by Nathan Wardinski.

• Culture Shock: You Decide: The Films of Leni Riefenstahl
  

  An interesting, interactive exploration of images from Triumph of the Will.

• Intellectualism cut off at the neck: The Body Politic-As-Aesthetic in Leni Riefenstahl's Triumph of the Will
• The Internet Movie Database (IMDb)
• Leni Riefenstahl: Documentary Film-Maker Or Propagandist?
• Leni Riefenstahl: The certificate to the gold medal »TRIUMPH DES WILLENS«
• Leni Riefenstahl's Triumph of the Will
  

  This microfilm collection available from the Library of Congress is described as follows: "Triumph des Willens (Triumph of the Will) records the Nazi party congress in Nurnberg in 1934, and as a visual spectacle for propaganda has won worldwide fame. This one-reel microfilm collection provides a historical context within which to view and study the movie. It includes transcripts of the American Army interrogation of Leni Riefenstahl in 1945, the complete Riefenstahl file from the Berlin Documents Center, documentation on other films she made, personal and official correspondence, a genealogy of Riefenstahl, and newspaper clippings. In German and English."

• Leni Riefenstahl's "Triumph of the Will"
  

  The same collection as above, however this site provides a little more detail as to what is contained in the collection.

• Talent: The Main Guilt of Leni Riefenstahl
  

  A short, but rather thought-provoking, article from Russia (written in English).

• To what extent are the labels of "propaganda" and "art" appropriate in the description of Leni Riefenstahl's Triumph des Willens (1935)?
  

  A dissertation by Edmund Butcher.

• The Trials and Triumphs of Leni Riefenstahl
  

  A biographical essay and review of Triumph by David Arduini.

• Triumph of the Will
  

  Notes on the film from the University of San Diego (includes downloadable video, plus links to various reviews, etc.)

• Triumph of the Will
  

  The complete shooting script in English.

• The Underview: Movies for What Comes After — Triumph of the Will
  

  An "alternative" review.

• World War II Electronic Archives
  

  Features a downloadable clip from the film.

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