Triumph der willens

Dir: Leni Riefenstahl.

This is one of those films that got mentioned time and time again when I had multi media classes at KIAD. Always the film was cited as being a great inspiration to later film makers with every one from Kubrick to Lucas using the film as direct inspiration. Lucas in particular has been fond of lifting scenes from 'Triumph der willens' to flesh out his Star Wars films. When she made the film Reifenstahl was said to be acting on the request of Hitler himself, and later she lamented ever having accepted the job. She got a lot of flak for the film and was more or less black listed for the rest of her life. Odd then that it should prove so alluring for film makers ever since to copy her work and by inference, create parallels between their own vision and that of Adolf Hitler. I guess there isn't much of a distance between fantasy and fascism and the one can easily become the other if the mood is right.

Personally, and from a purely aesthetic perspective, I found the film to be quite boring. I have no doubt Reifenstahl was a pioneer but since I am viewing her work some seventy three years late, what I'm seeing is something I've seen countless times already. Had I seen this film in 1934, no doubt I would have been just as awestruck as the people in 1934 were, but having seen the cinematic artwork of the late twentieth century, all I get from this film is the interesting historical perspective. Thus it scores only 2 stars despite its genius.

This film was made in the same 1936 time frame as I have written about in other posts. As such it is a good way to see how some people in those days viewed themselves as being 'modern'. Its like the art deco paintings and posters of the period, filled with iconic figures and upward rising columns and dealing with something larger than life; bombastic and extravagant. Leni Reifenstahl takes that style and gives it to the Nazi's, creating an impression of strength, virility and of being 'the future'. When you look at the heroic way in which Hitler is framed, you can see how nakedly the propaganda is at work. By todays perspective its painfully obvious that we are looking at monsters patting themselves on the back. Hindsight lends us the clarity to see the style and pomp for what it is. A circus of the grotesque. Hundreds of thousands of people hypnotized the by the allure of 'the future' and acting with joy and enthusiasm at the prospect of it. I wonder if any of the thousands gathered at Nurenburg during that rally had even the slightest understanding of what they were really about to get involved in.

The worst part is, the future had already been foretold, and by a German. Fritz Lang's science fiction film 'Metropolis' was almost a decade old by the time Reifenstahl made her film. Lang's dystopian future showed the world the Nazi's were trying to build and yet the message never seemed to penetrate. No doubt it was lost in the communist Vs capitalist debate which raged so fiercely at the time.

Maybe its just me looking back with 20/20 vision, but the Germans flocking to Hitler seem to have been utterly out of sync with their own cultural mores. Germany was a nation born of the enlightment. Its philosophers and artists were all indebted to the great European movement towards better understanding and the golden rule of morality and yet the people still followed Hitler and his goons regardless. I suppose there is a case to be made for poverty being a stronger motivation than ethics, but still. The Germans may have suffered under the burden of losing the first world war, but that didn't justify turning to the Nazi's as they did. Watching this film however I can feel the infection waiting to burst out. It must have been so easy to allow oneself to be seduced by the sight of such strength and determination.

It doesn't seem to matter than Hitler looks like a limp wristed wimp, or that his Nazi compatriots look like apes in uniforms. It doesn't matter that the voices are didactic rantings bordering on insanity and it certainly doesn't seem to matter than every one is wearing a uniform. The strength in so much conformity, the urge to find that unity and to belong to it, must have been overwhelming. Fear is perhaps the most potent method by which to persuade people to become monsters, and here we have a cure being offered for the fear: the triumph of the will. Too bad for them its all a lie and they are all becoming monsters too.

There is one other detail which catches my eye. This film shows Nurenburg before it was bombed into rubble. It shows a very old fashioned but utterly charming city. Old buildings, the like of which are prized today in most Europeean countries as cultural heritage icons are here seen in abundance. It underscores to me just how much the Germans lost because they believed in 'the future' as promised by the illusion of strength. They lost everything worthwhile, their honour, their lives, their cultural identity. Even the infrastructure of their history went down the toilet. Its odd to see them in this film celebrating their own demise with such enthusiasm.

The film can be seen here.
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