Designed by Nazis, for Nazis, and about Nazis.

Triumph of the Will was filmed by the German Propaganda Ministry in 1934 and covers the events of the Sixth Nuremburg Party Congress.

The original intention was to document the early days of the NSDAP, so as future generations could look back and see how the Third Reich began.

In reality, Triump des Willens shows historians how the Nazi state drew in the masses through propaganda and also how Adolf Hitler had a unique and terrifying ability to entice crowds to his beliefs by the very power of his words.


viewer's comments:

- Style Over Content
So much has been written about this film that it seems unnecessary to add further commentary. Instead, I will relate a personal viewing experience. The second time I saw Triumph of the Will was in a college auditorium. The students, who had never seen the film, were a typical collection of middle and upper class youths, largely ignorant of history, but curious about the Nazi era. As the film unfolded they occasionally laughed at the pomposity of the speeches, but generally watched in silence until the scene where Hitler, flanked by Himmler and Lutze, begins his march toward the flame. At the start of this sequence, the three figures walk alone, but then the camera slowly pulls back to reveal that on either side of their path are at least 100,000 people. At that point, many of the students were so completely stunned by Riefenstahl's technique that there was an audible gasp in the auditorium. In spite of their instinctive contempt for Nazism, they were overwhelmed by the imagery. This surely was the greatest example of style triumphing over content that I have ever seen.


- "I filmed the truth as it was then. Nothing more."-Leni Riefenstahl
I think It's a shame that Leni Riefenstahl was persecuted for her work on this film. The truth is that this documentary (and it is a documentary) is brilliantly filmed. The cinematography is a thing of beauty!

This film is extremely biased, like all propaganda, (and let's not forget that propaganda is not just used to promote support for evil dictators, propaganda is anything that sways our opinions), but at the same time it is a factual, primary source, historical account of life in Nazi Germany.

If you choose to watch this film, think of it as an educational piece rather than an exciting feature film. Eventhough Hitler was a monster, as a public speaker he far surpasses any other world leader I've ever heard speak. If you have questions as to how Hitler persuaded people to jump on his bandwagon, this piece will enlighten you.

The one thing that truly got on my nerves in this film, was that damned Third Reich march music that serves as the score for the film. If you hate marches (i.e. John Phillip Sousa), this could drive you insane.


- A Propaganda Masterpiece
This film was more or less a documentary of the early years of the NSDAP and Hitler's rise to Chancellor in 1933. As a propaganda work, it is unsurpassed in its content and and portrayals. All that seems to be missing from it was Hitler opening the 1936 Olympic Games. It encompasses all of the elements necessary to maintain a command over an entire nation and people.

Until just the last few years of the 20th Century, the film was classified; a piece of seized property and therefore unknown to most of the American people. Interestingly enough, it is connected with our history by way of the Watergate burglary and scandal. It has been said that G. Gordon Liddy took men connected with this event to a showing of the film which he apparently had access to. It was said to have been the most striking example of a mission and of the elements of command.

Not the lone film of its kind, the American public was subjected to propaganda films as well. One that comes to mind is "North Star," which was a film purporting to portray life in the Soviet Union in the late thirties and early forties. Communism was not a popular subject with the American people so this film was produced with much pro-Russian sentiment and fanciful portrayals of the Russian people. At this it may be said to be successful as much of the anti-communist furor was dispelled and the American people accepted sending billions of dollars in equipment and aid to Russia who after 1941, was fighting Germany on a wide front.

The American equivalent to "Triumph of the Will" was the series, "Why We Fight," which contained seven films about the American interests in World War II.

For sure grandeur and gesture, "Triumph of the Will" likely receives several stars, however has no great redeeming value other than spectacle and showing a few faces and voices from that time. A must-see for historians and military aficionados


- Groundbreaking Documentary
No matter what you think of Nazis this film is brilliant. It was the first of the kind political documentary. The beginning may bore some viewers, but those who stay will be rewarded by some of the most famous documentary footage ever shot. I feel I could see this movie a few times without being bored. In fact, the more you watch the more fun it is.


- This film is very well done
I recently saw this movie and I was very impressed with the camera work and the use of motion and sound. Very artistic. The director did a great job. It is a shame she was black listed later. It is our loss. It amazed me how we are super sensitive to anything that happened in Germany during the Nazi period. Not everything was bad during that time. The autobahn was initiated, the Volkswagon beetle was born. At the same time, we as Americans still give credence to the so-called confederate side of the civil war. Attempt to show the humanity of the slave owner during the American holocaust of Africans and Japanese internment of WWII and allow directors of such racist films a "Birth of a Nation" D.W. Griffith a great career and still honor him as a great producer. Shame we are such hypocrites. Maybe we are only appalled by inhumane treatment to people with white skin. As long as those being oppressed do not look like us, we can justify it. We give credence to their oppressors. Shame on us. If this film is so disturbing then hopefully we are as disturbed the black face images in the movie "The Jazz Singer", "White Christmas", "Amos and Andy" and the list goes on. Of course we are not. These are different, not the same as the Nazis films, not as bad or evil. How long will we continue to lie to ourselves? Let us admit our race bias and twisted view of history and treat all films and directors equally.