Taylor Singh
20519205
Assignment 1
The Perceptible Propaganda in the film Triumph of the Will (Triumph des Willens)
JS 233: The Holocaust and Film
Prof. James Diamond
Monday, February 2nd, 2015
The film Triumph of the Will was created in 1934 after Hitler was named Fuhrer of Germany. At the time, Hitler was eager to improve the public image of the NSDP (National Socialist German Workers ' Party). After his election as chancellor in Early January 1933, Hitler gave Leni Riefenstahl the job of filming the annual NSDAP conference in Nuremberg, Germany . Riefenstahl accepted the offer and agreed document, direct and edit the Conference. As years pasted, the infamous “documentary” began to be speculated as possible Nazi Propaganda.
Although presumptions began to arise, Riefenstahl stated that Triumph of the Will was clearly a factual documentary and stated: “Not a single scene is staged…It is history, pure history” and that she simply filmed what she saw. Susan Sontag’s response in her dissertation Fascinating Fascism concluded that the film is fascist propaganda promoting Nazi ideology but itself is not a about fascism . Sontag was right to the title the film was fascist due to Riefenstahl’s extreme forthright about her infatuation with Hitler. In an interview with Detroit news Riefenstahl stated: “To me Hitler is the greatest man who ever lived. He is really faultless, so simple yet so filled with ,manly power... He is really beautiful,
1. The first exhibit that I experienced was a film on Hitlers' rise to power. It showed how he played on the fears of the people by using propaganda to promote himself to becoming Chancellor of Germany. Ever though he lost the election, Hindenburg on January 30, 1933 appointed Hitler Chancellor.
However, as Wolfgang Ruge argues, “the Nazi party developed a propaganda apparatus whose activities far eclipsed all previous heights of the demagogy of German imperialism.” On this note, it is widely agreed by historians that the regime was highly successful in one of Friedreich's principles; control of the increasingly powerful mass media in German society as a mechanism for public control. Primarily coordinated through the work of propaganda minister Goebbels, Hitler was portrayed as a leader who was at the same time moderate and reasonable who put the national good before his own interest. Other themes highlighted images of strength and authority which appealed to the highly nationalist German population; epitomised by Hitler appearing out of the sky to lead the German people depicted in Riefenstahl's 1934 film Triumph of the Will, still widely considered the most influential propaganda film of all time. The radio, state produced to be inexpensive, become the regimes number one weapon as it allowed propaganda to not only infiltrate but permeate as many homes as possible.
(Speer, pg 89,1995) In 1934 he was rewarded with his first of many important commissions, the design of the huge parade grounds, searchlights, and banners of the spectacular Nuremberg Rally which was such an enormous success it was filmed by Leni Riefenstahl in Triumph of the Will. "I felt myself to be Hitler's architect. Political events did not concern me. My job was merely to provide impressive backdrops for such events."
“The staging itself reminded the audience of how fascists use such panoramas: […] Hitler at the Nazi Party Conference at Nuremberg in 1934 as reevoked in the monumental Triumph of the Will” (Crowl, 53). The huge red scrolls and banners with Richard’s badge of boar, the vast crowd waving red flags, all these imageries created by Richard Loncraine echo the past “glory” of Hitler when he convinced tamed German citizens with his mouth.
The Nazi Party began in 1919 as the German Workers' Party in Munich created by Anton Drexler(“Nazi Germany”). The Nazis came to true power with an influential leader in Adolf Hitler. Hitler was a powerful leader who tapped into the fear of his followers to guide them into becoming strong followers. The Nazi’s propaganda seemed to promise the citizens of Germany to pull them out of the depression they were in at the time (“The Nazi Rise To Power”). The Nazis wrote each of their speeches depending the audience they would have. An example of this is, “ when speaking to businessmen, the Nazis downplayed antisemitism and instead emphasized anti-communism and the return of German colonies lost through the Treaty of Versailles”(“The Nazi Rise To Power”). On January 30, 1993, Adolf Hitler was appointed chancellor of Germany after a series of previous failures of
In spite of the fact that it is a commonly known historical piece of the Holocaust, it’s authenticity has been questioned. Some conspiracies deny that it even happened at all. Through the analyzation of Hitler’s own violent anti-Semitism, powerful position, and ability to convey Nazi propaganda into action, one can see how he is the sole cause of the Holocaust.
Leni Riefenstahl was one of the most revolutionary and certainly most controversial filmmakers of the early twentieth century. The lasting influence of her innovative filmmaking techniques on twentieth century cinema is undisputed by scholars throughout history, but the exact nature of her work is surrounded by ongoing controversy. Riefenstahl’s production of the feature films “Triumph of the Will” (Source 3) and “Olympia” (Source 1) have left a lasting imprint on history; these films established Riefenstahl’s influential career as a film director under the years of the Nazi regime. Although these films are attributed by scholars and critics to be Riefenstahl’s greatest achievements they are also considered to be her greatest fault, for
Triumph of the Will is a documentary of the Nazi Party conference in 1934 in Nuremberg. From the first frame of the film, Riefenstahl captures every essence of how worshiped Hitler
After watching Adolf Hitler’s speech, he is very intimidating just because of the way he looks. He states what his audience wants to hear and gives them courage to fight for the change that they want. He builds fear in the audience by stating, “Once, our enemies worried us and persecuted us and, from time to time removed lesser elements from the Movement for us” (News and Politics). In other words, saying that enough is enough. No longer can the German people let their enemies step all over them and do as they please with them. Basically, stating that their enemies have made them believe that they are superior to them, when they aren’t. The camera often focuses on the audience which are well dressed in suits and who can be trusted.
As the film opened in Germany and around the world it became obvious that Riefenstahl had achieved overall success, beyond all expectations. In America, specifically New York it was called “flawless” and “a highly fascinating fantasy”. The Blue Light was even awarded a silver medal at the first Venice Biennale that year. Riefenstahl still saw herself primarily as an actress, but after her new found success, expected to continue filmmaking as a career. If The Blue Light had not influenced her career path she would not have reached her prominence with her films such as Triumph of the Will and Olympia to come. Riefenstahl did not only gain wider international fame, she also gained the admiration and support of Adolf Hitler. According to Audrey Salkeld, “Hitler was already an admirer of hers, having been won over by her first dance of fluttering veils in her first movie.......From then on, he had followed her career with interest, The Blue Light in particular catching his imagination.” Indeed the success of The Blue Light was one of the determining influences on Riefenstahl’s rise to prominence as she states, “This film was pivotal in my life, not so much because it was my first successful effort as a producer and director, but because Hitler was so fascinated by this film that he insisted I make a documentary about the Party rally in Nuremberg. The result was Triumph of
Many events took place, leading to the rise of Hitler and his Nazi party. There was the growing unpopularity of the Weimar Republic, the federal republic established in 1919. At the same time, Hitler and his political party, the ‘Deutsche Arbeiterpartei’, commonly referred to as the Nazis (National Socialist German Workers’ Party) became more and more popular under the rule of their leader, Adolf Hitler. This rise to popularity was the effect of Hitler’s dramatic yet effective speeches and the rumours that he spread about the Jews whilst he was in jail, writing his book, “Mein Kampf”.
Two of the most significant leaders in modern history were Martin Luther King Jr and Adolf Hitler. Although both figures left their mark on their respective nations’ political, social and economic landscape, one is revered while the other remembered with disdain and horror. This essay will compare and contrast key characteristics that were and are central to King and Hitler’s rise to prominence and memory. Some observations will be based on the speeches in the 1963 March on Washington for the former and 1953 propaganda film ‘Triumph of the Will’ for the latter’s references.
The most propagandistic part of the film was when different men were giving speeches when Von Hindenburg died. They all had glittering and nice things to say about Germany and how the people and their loyalty were making all of it happen. It was giving Germany a sense of pride
Aldous Huxley, author of the famous dystopian works 'Brave New World’, commented that “Propaganda gives force and direction to the successive movements of popular feeling and desire; but it does not do much to create these movements”. The decree instating the new Ministry defined its task as the spreading of “enlightenment and propaganda within the population concerning…the national reconstruction of the German Fatherland”. It sought to Nazify German culture, wiping away the Weimar decadence of the 1920s with traditional values, societal sense of racial worth, ‘Führerprincip’ and concentration of German culture, purging it of degeneracy and Üntermenschen. Joseph Goebbels had two primary objectives: To ensure nobody in Germany could see or hear anything hostile or damaging to the Party and ensure that Nazi ideology was encouraged in the most persuasive possible manner. Nazi propaganda promoted ideology by demonising the enemies of the Nazi Party, especially Jews and communists, but also capitalists and intellectuals, it maintained the personality cult around Adolf Hitler, and promoted campaigns for eugenics and Pan-Germanism.
Without propaganda the Nazi would not have gotten as far or as powerful as they were. One powerful piece of work was the Nazi film Jud Süß. This is a Nazi propaganda film was released on September 24, 1940 by a Nazi production company named Terra Filmkunst under the order of Joseph Goebbels. For a lot of people this is considered to be one of the most anti-Semitic films that the Nazi’s have ever put into production. I will be going over the overall message of the film and how they go about being anti-Semitic and how powerful this movie actually was for the Nazi party. What went in to this movie and what happened to the actors after the war was over and what was the true power of this anti-Semitic film are a few questions that will be