tinyurl.com/96ukz -> www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00004WLXZ/qid=1136608453/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-7194083-0852012?n=507846&s=dvd&v=glance
Based on 119 Reviews * DVD Features: + Available Subtitles: English + Audio Commentary By Historian Dr. The light black bars on all four sides of the image are normal for this format.
com essential video 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. 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.
somethng that is practiced every day by all governments, in advertising, and in all political campaigns - but never better than this. Very crafty, but no different than what we see every day in our media-saturated world. Regardless of what happened in the years that followed, TRIUMPH needs to be viewed as a statement of its own era, when none of the horrors had yet happened and many around the world still referred to the Nazi regime (which was then consolidating power and trying to reach the hearts and minds of the people) as "the German renaissance". The commentary track adds a fascinating "what happened to that Nazi?" Just a few examples: The closing scene in STAR WARS, "Be Prepared" from THE LION KING, and especially the entrance of Commodus into Rome from GLADIATOR are all lifted directly from visuals in TRIUMPH Even more common is the visual "homage" that directors sometimes subtly insert, such as the woman being tossed in the air from THE BIG LEBOWSKI (remember the kid at the beginning of TRIUMPH)? One certainly does not need to sympathize with the Nazis to appreciate this film. In fact, it is precisely because of what became of them that makes this early look so fascinating. Recommended for any student of history, sociology, mass media, or film.
Clean, sharp, the underlying visual rhythm clearly discernible, the structure of the work exerting its magic without restraint. The transition between pompous nocturnal nazi party celebrations to a misty dawn progressively clearing to reveal air views of Nuremberg's ancient rooftops, with the lens coming to rest fully sharp on row upon row of simmetrical white tents, where party members are waking up, all set to the quiet prelude to the third act of Wagner's Meistersinger (a piece in itself celebratory of German art and set in medieval Nuremberg), is pure cinema magic. not a small feat to accomplish within less than a handful of cinematic minutes. This is not a news-style documentary but a film constructed flawlessly in the editing room. Leni had full control of the editing and supposedly did most of it herself. One can understand how an unthinking populace could fall for it, and how keen an intellect and great an artist Riefenstahl is (I gather she's still active at 90+). This is not just a nicely crafted collection of pretty pictures of an old city and massive nazi spectacle. Everything is calculated to evoke an emotional response helping consolidate the identification of Germany as Hitler and Hitler as Germany. It is frightening for its lack of human ambiguity, for the willful surrender of a people to a master. There is a lot of "joy" portrayed in the film (perhaps of the "strength through joy" kind) but after seeing it this time, I realized there is not a single funny moment in it. Placing myself in 1935 Germany, and erasing from my mind everything that subsequently happened, I was comfortably glad to realize that, temperamentally, I would have had a hard time with the nazis, indeed would probably have reacted to all things around me by becoming an anarchist or some such thing. The DVD comes with a short documentary of German military maneuvres also from 1935. Anyone with a serious interest in film needs to see this. Anyone interested in seeing how visual imagery can be structured to propagate a faith needs to see this. For that matter, all our contemporary putative manipulators: marketeers, political consultants, advertising executives, TV and movie producers ought to see this. Citizens who want to remain informed and self-determinating ought to see this. Most immediately, anyone who wants to put together a beautiful, masterly structured film from tons of negative reels needs to see this.... and I don't think anyone born after the war has seen it better than in this DVD.
triumph of the will to make a good movie, December 25, 2005 A Kid's Review This movie was made 6 years before the start of world war 2 so you won't find any talk about war, racism, or foreign policies in it. It is simply the best, most powerful film about self-preservation and dignity. Its universal message crosses all boundaries and instills in one the hope that it's not too late to better ourselves. Because in this world we live in it's impossible to empathize with others. It's an important message, crucial really, and it's beautifully stated in the film.
Because there are several facets to this film, and it is almost impossible to comprehend everything going on all at once. First, watch it for the original cinematography by Leni Riefenstahl. The off-center camera angles, the close-ups, the moving camera shots. It may not seem like anything out of the ordinary now, but compare it to other films from the early 1930s, and you will realize how ground-breaking this film really was. This film was sanctioned and bankrolled by the Nazis, in an effort to portray themselves in the best possible light. The Nazis had recently come to power in Germany amid much turmoil, and they wanted to get some "positive press" out to the people, and the result was this film. It was meant to impress but also to intimidate, and it likely achieved both aims. To see all of these Nazis chanting slogans and marching in lock-step, you get the impression that "Germany is on the upswing! That was their intention, and I dare say it was effective. Finally, you might want to watch it again, this time with the audio commentary by historian Dr. Santoro filled his narrative with many tidbits about not only the known Nazi leaders like Hitler and Himmler, but also many of the lesser known ones, like Streicher and Bormann. I found that his knowledge of these figures and their era added depth to my understanding of the film.
See all my reviews I do not understand why Leni Riefenstahl has been criticized so strongly for making this film. For me it is an excellent documentary that could have given a warning what happened after 1934. the shell shocked SA whose leaders had just been executed; the arrogant Reichswehr general who looks rather bored when he has to watch the not exactly in synchrony marching Para militaristic organizations; the Reichswehr soldiers who are goose-stepping like an oiled machinery; and Streicher whose speech must have so dumb that Leni could use only one sentence from his entire speech.
Sure, it is a good one : full of innovations and daring angles. Leni dared to do what other directors did not : putting her camera in people's face, looking at things in an active manner and not with the passive neutrality of a robot. I am sure she would have done exactly the same job if she had been American and the Republican Party had a huge political rally in Washington DC. But she was German and the rally was Nazi, so since then she has been prosecuted, harrassed and vilified. Poor Leni, she was not a Nazi, just an ambitious woman who believed in her Art, filming. Triump...
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