"This Is America": Documentaries for Theaters, 1942-1951

Barsam, Richard Meran

doi:10.2307/1225493

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“…Triumph of the Will has been described as the prototype for a political film used for propaganda purposes, 32 it retains the paradox of being able to 'repel and attract us at the same time'. 33 Corliss has referred to the film as 'a sympathetic documentary of a propaganda event', 34 while Barsam calls it a hybrid of the documentary and propaganda traditions. 35 Riefenstahl always went to great lengths to attest that this was not her objective, 36 despite the fact that Hitler had stated that he wished to 'exploit the film as an instrument of propaganda in such a way that the audience will be clearly aware that .…”

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Reappraising Riefenstahl‘s Triumph of the Will

Marcus¹

2004

Film Studies

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Leni Riefenstahl was one of filmmakings most contentious directors. The power of her epic documentaries, Triumph of the Will (1935) and Olympia (1938), have cemented her place in film history. More criticism has been written about Riefenstahl than any other director, except perhaps Hitchcock and Welles. Publicity surrounding the publication of an illustrated book marking her centenary reawakened debates about Riefenstahl‘s career in film and her involvement with the Third Reich. In this article, I focus on one of the key films which emerged from that relationship, Triumph of the Will (Triumph des Willens), which I discussed at length in my interview with Riefenstahl. Her recollections were sharp and I was intrigued by some of her answers, not for what new insight they offered, but for how they reaffirmed how she wished others to interpret her films and motivations. In particular, I was interested in the way she considered Triumph of the Will to be a realistic portrayal of the Nazi‘s 1934 Nuremberg Rally and the events surrounding it, and her role as a filmmaker in shaping that representation.

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“…Like her earlier films, Tiefland retains the thematic motif of a belief in 'the heroic, the good and the strong'. 41 The controversies surrounding her relationships with the Nazi leadership and the impact made by Triumph of the Will, hampered her efforts to clear her name and to continue making films.…”

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confidence: 99%