After winning elections, the National Socialist Party of Germany held a congress in 1934, a demonstration of force that was filmed "to show the world the triumph of the will of the German people." From the opening when the Führer literally arrives from heaven and the healthy, disciplined and pure Arian party members gather in Nuremberg, the documentary goes from the particular to the general with clever audiovisual manipulation, through marches, speeches and banners, turning the masses that celebrate the triumph of their will into a perfect piece of architecture, a magnificent structure that is reduced to the power of the Party. For decades, this so-called work of "reactionary modernism" was dismissed after the revelation of the Nazis' iniquity. However, after emotions are subdued, the masterfulness of director Leni Riefenstahl is evident (see "Die Match der Bilder.") In this and her 1938 film of the Olympic Games in Berlin, "Olympia", she coined techniques that today are common place in the entertainment industry. So don't be surprised if today you watch a football game with technical solutions of Nazi origin...
Review of Triumph of the Will
