TRIUMPH OF THE WILL - a Masterpiece of Evil

Before we get started, let me get something out of the way first. In no way am I excusing or condoning anything the Nazis did in World War II. Now I know this may sounds like a no-brainer of a disclaimer, but as I go through this review, I will make some positive statements. I just don&#146t want anyone confusing praise for the movie as condoning Adolf, his actions or Nazism in general. Adolf Hitler was, is, and always shall be a complete and utter fucking asshole, and I can only hope that he is burning in the deepest, darkest pit of hell.

Now, with that out of the way - let us turn our attentions to Triumph des Willens otherwise known as Triumph of the Will.

This is probably one of the hardest films I've had to review, and certainly one of the hardest ones I've had to watch in a long, long time (for a number of reasons, and mind you not just the obvious one). It's a movie that is very well done, with all kinds of inventive cinematography tricks that were pretty revolutionary in the mid-thirties. Triumph of the Will shows off Leni Riefenstahl's considerable talent as a filmmaker, with really powerful shots, some elaborate setups and really effective story telling.

As a production, Triumph of the Will is gargantuan. Riefenstahl had new bridges built specially in Nuremberg, with all the camera and lighting gantries erected to her exact specifications. She used 30 cameras and 120 technicians to film the rallies and spent six months in the editing suite. The two hour running time is only three percent of the entire footage shot for the rally. Her inventiveness and willingness to experiment is really, really impressive.

The problem is, of course is that Triumph of the Will is a film made for and about the Nazis. More specifically, it documents (although I&#146d hesitate to call it a documentary) the 1934 rally at Nuremberg, a seven day festival that was held to celebrate Hitler&#146s rise to power. For the next two hours, we get Hitler presented as a godlike being, or as a loving, caring father figure.

The film opens with Adolf flying into Nuremberg (the imagery of him descending from the clouds like a savior is undeniable) and his trip through city streets crowded with his cheering, loyal supporters. After a night rally outside the Hitler's hotel, we tour a tent city full of Hitler Youth recruits as they go about their day eating breakfast, washing up playing games and having a grand old time. While of course there is no symbolism in this part I couldn&#146t help think that the part where the Youth are stoking the huge boiler to cook their food unintentionally creepy.

We then get Hitler presiding over an honorary harvest tribute from German farmers dressed in their traditional clothes, and then Hitler and Dr. Robert Ley inspecting some of the troops of the German Labor Front. Okay, I'm not down with the Nazi ideology, but I have to hand it to them - they have that whole drill thing down pat. They may be monsters, but they look real snappy with goose-stepping around.

We then move inside to the Congress Hall in Nuremberg, where Deputy Fuhrer Rudolf Hess talks about how cool Hitler and the National Socialist movement is, followed by quick remarks from Robert Ley, propaganda minister Goebbels, justice minister Hans Frank, press chief Dr. Otto Dietrich, and a handful of other big shots in the Reich.

Then we get a scene of Hitler inspecting some 52,000 troops from Reich Labor Service, fresh from working on the Autobahn highway (probably the only good thing to come out of the Third Reich. Well, that and giving us the perfect bad guys for Indiana Jones to fight against). They sing the official anthem and then memorialize the fallen German veterans of World War I.

There's another night rally held in the Main Stadium - with some really effective and gorgeous silhouettes with some very stark lighting effects, and another speech from Victor Lutze, the head of the Storm Troopers. This is followed by a massive daytime rally with thousands of members of the Hitler Youth participating, and with another speech by Hitler. Afterwards, Hitler and army chief General Walter von Blomberg watch German infantry and cavalry performing training maneuvers, followed by one more night rally with thousands of troops parading with Nazi flags by torchlight.

The next day, a memorial service is held for the deceased President von Hindenburg. This scene, with Hitler, flanked by Himmler and Lutze, marching toward a memorial flame at the other end of the stadium, might be familiar to you even if you've never seen Triumph of the Will before. This was the shot that Lucas used for the ending of Star Wars, as Luke, Han and Chewie walk the center isle to the dais with Leia, surrounded by thousands of rebels to either side. It's a very powerful, effective shot, and I could totally see why George used it.

We get another speech from Victor Lutze reassuring the members of the SS that everything is going hunky-dory, and then Hitler talks about how the Party won't be destroyed or purged again, what with the Night of the Long Knives just a few months previous. The film climaxes with a massive parade through the streets of Nuremberg, with various members of German military organizations and Hitler's own personal SS bodyguard regiment making guest starring appearances. Finally, Hitler concludes the event with a passionate speech at the Congress Hall.

As I said earlier, I hesitated to call this a documentary. While all documentaries are constructed in a way to lead the viewer to the filmmakers way of thinking - and Triumph of the Will certainly fits that bill to a tee - the movie was also constructed from the ground up, with retakes and staged shots and a level of clean up that a normal documentary wouldn&#146t get. And I will admit that as a propaganda piece, it's very effective - but two hours of saluting crowds, marching uniformed Nazis and Hitler going on and on and on about how the man was keeping him and his home-boys down and my eyes started to glaze over. Not only is the subject matter repulsive, it's boring as hell too.

However, for at least a little bit - and I have to apologize in advance, this is one of those statements that my Good Taste Filter probably should have caught - but I could totally see how this film would get the German people fired up. Hitler is an amazingly charismatic speaker and is a really compelling and mesmerizing dude to watch. Couple that with Riefenstahl's stellar cinematography and this is one hell of a good movie (and I mean good as in the very well done artistic sense of the word, and not good in regards to the subject matter). Even 70 years later, with politicians and big business coming up with all new and innovative ways to lie to us, Triumph of the Will stands out as a visually amazing piece of work.

And the scary thing is? It works. Now, here I am a reasonably savvy film school geek that can spit out 2,480 words about how Piranha II: The Spawning was a pretty good flick and even I got caught up in the moment from time to time. I'd lose myself and think "Awww - he likes kittens, he's not such a bad guy!" before coming to my senses and going "Wait a second, that's Adolf-fucking-Hitler I'm talking about!" It's that compelling a movie.

But you know the really sad thing about this? Due to her Nazi connections and the repulsive subject matter of her work, Leni Riefenstahl's gift for filmmaking was never fully developed or appreciated. I would have loved to see her do some non-Nazi propaganda projects, out from under Hitler's shadow. But it's not to be.

Finally, I think that Triumph of the Will should be required viewing for one simple reason - it's a textbook example on how easy it is to manipulate and distort images to suit whatever truths you wish to put forth. The art of propaganda is very alive and well this very day, with politicians from both sides of the fence mud slinging and gearing their campaigns to fear monger and tap the worst in man. Big business operates with secret agendas in an effort to get your dollar. The media - both liberal and conservative - filter information with the intent to getting you to think their way.

If any good can come from this evil man and his Nazi propaganda machine, hopefully it's this lesson: no matter where you go or what you do, someone somewhere is trying to manipulate you and the way you think. Forewarned is forearmed.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to watch Ray Muller's 1993 documentary The Wonderful, Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl.

THE DVD -
Synapse films is rapidly becoming my favorite independent studio, and deserves a round of applause for having balls enough to bring us this potentially volatile and extremely controversial release. They also get kudos for doing such a good job with it too.

For starters, the film is nearly seventies years old now, and has a very long and checkered past. Considering everything it's been through, we're damn lucky to have gotten something that looks as good as it does. There are all kinds of source defects - scratches, grain, cigarette burns and actual writing on the film in black sharpie (or the 1940's equivalent) in places, so expecting a film of this vintage to be perfect without some very extensive restoration is folly.

Presented in a windowboxed format (that means black bars on all sides of the frame) in it's original 1.37:1 aspect ratio, Triumph of the Will is a relatively crisp looking movie with some very nice looking blacks with solid contrast. While not comparable to the Fritz Lang's restored Metropolis or movies that were cared for by the studio like Carl Laemmle's Dracula, Triumph of the Will still looks damn good.

There are also two versions of this DVD - one with a black cover and a red swastika on it, and the one pictured here, a yellow background with a helmeted Nazi on it. I have the Black and Red version, and it seems the only difference between the two is that the Yellow one has a better, more restored picture quality. So if you get one, get the one with Jerry on the cover.

THE EXTRAS -
If there's a flaw with the disc, I am sad at the squandered potential for extras - considering the history behind Riefenstahl and the Nazis and the colored background of the film, oh so much more could have been done with this disc, so much more I wanted to see and learn. We could have gotten a feature looking at the film on an artistic level or perhaps some interviews with film and history scholars, or perhaps a discussion of the ethical issues surrounding Riefenstahl.

Still, what we get here is pretty darn informative and vital for some context.

We get a commentary from Doctor Anthony R. Santoro, who goes on to explain all kinds of basic facts, a play-by-play of who is on screen (and what happened to them), explains the methodology of camera placement and shooting styles, makes mentions of the re-shoots and staged bits, and delivers all kinds of emotionless (as in not biased) information.

Then we get another of Riefenstahl's films called Days of Freedom. This one, about 17 minutes long, is not nearly as good as Triumph of the Will but provides another look at the style and methodology behind Riefenstahl's filmmaking.

THE BOTTOM LINE - Your first impulse might very well be "Why the hell would I want to watch a buttnugget like Hitler talk for two hours?", or perhaps believing that viewing the film is in someway supporting Nazism or encouraging hateful rhetoric. But if it somehow inspires the modern viewer to question and think about what passes for news and entertainment these days, allowing one to see the bias inherent in today's media, I think that's worth spending two hours of your life with a raving madman, don't you?