Looking back on the history of the world it seems as if propaganda has always been there, whether it is with war or with election many will always see the different sides battling it out with the poster against the other. Propaganda was especially popular during world war one and the lead up to world war two, as well as the aftermath of both the wars. Propaganda was also one of the main ways for different leaders of the world to show people their power or why they should help in the wars. For this paper, each student was allowed to pick one of three movies to watch. Each movie had to deal with propaganda within a different country and time period. After watching the first ten minutes of each film it seemed the most interesting was about the Nazis called “Triumph des Willens.” The reason being to see and hear more about the time of being under Hitler’s power. The film was created in 1935, four years before the start of the second world war, and was directed by Leni Riefenstahl. It is important to see this documentary because they are seeing more of Hitler than what many are told in school and making sure it is seen for generations to come so this time is never forgotten. During the duration of the film, the audience is getting see the parades, assemblies, and some of Hitler’s speeches, with getting to see what is was like during this time if one was in Germany before the start of another world war. This film starts off as a very calm atmosphere compare to how many think of
Just like France, the United States, and Russia, Germany also began to make films, as a way to entertain the working class in an inexpensive way. By 1933 Adolf Hitler came to power, creating very harsh social condition that made several writers, actors, and directors flee Germany because they feared that if they stayed they would have gotten killed. Joseph Goebbels later came to run the UFA, as a government owned production company to make films that were shown to civilians and the military as propaganda on March 13 , 1933, and intended to censor German cinema to make the people believe that they were fascist. Numerous movies in that period of time tried to steer clear of talking about the Holocaust to distract people from what was really happening and to make Hitler seem almost godlike. One film in particular directed by Leni Riefenstahl called The Triumph of the Will became a well known example of propaganda in film history. Throughout the film, you really get to experience a sense of historical context that influenced thousands of people during the time of World War 2. Today, several people view The Triumph of the Will and have a difficult time distinguishing whether or not they can conclude if they view the film as propaganda or an actual piece of art.
<br>For differing reasons, one fact was clear - cinema attendance figures were increasing - more people were seeing the Nazi influenced films. In 1933 the number of moviegoers was 250 million, in 1942 was 1,000 million. This was a lot to do with Goebbels addressing of the divide between propaganda and entertainment. This is a key factor to the success of cinema as a medium. Films such as Leni Riefenstahl's Triumph of the Will' and - though a beautiful showcase of Nazi might at the Nuremberg party rally - was in many respects, in presentation - too extreme. A documentary, but one so very
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
Leni Riefenstahl was offered the opportunity to film for the Third Reich in 1933. Out of both fear and intimidation to comply, Riefenstahl accepted this offer and in 1934 went on to film the Nuremburg Rally, known as ‘Triumph of the Will’. With a crew of roughly 170, combined with Riefenstahl’s exceptional skills, she achieved the Ministry of Propaganda’s ideal to portray Hitler in a God-like and heroic manner, with the first 10 minutes dedicated solely to him. The purpose of this film was exactly that, to subconsciously coerce the public into viewing and idolising Hitler as the one and only, ‘Fuhrer’. This further added to the primary perception of Riefenstahl as a propagandist due to the nature of the films and their intentions.
Within the 3rd Reich its self it was the most revered movies produced during this time. Before the German troops were sent on their raid against the Jewish people all over Germany, were ordered to watch this to provide them with the boost that they needed and the final confidence that they needed to know what they were doing was right.
“Triumph of the Will” and “Night and Fog,” portray Hitler’s vision for Germany, and the findings of Allied liberators of concentration camps in the beginning of World War II. A comparison of the films present two very different views of what Hitler deemed necessary for Germany. They each displayed propaganda in a way they’re eye-catching simply because of the raw footage. It took everything that we knew about pre WWII and corrected it, so that we knew the truth about how the people of Germany felt, and what they saw in those exact moments. The task of viewing these films was quite difficult, and although both films seem to be a highly emotional and factual, I believe that “Night and Fog” was a more superior piece of propaganda. I will
During World War II propaganda was ubiquitous. It consisted of a wide range of carriers including leaflets, radio, television, and most importantly posters. Posters were used based on their appeal: they were colorful, creative, concise, and mentally stimulating. Posters often portrayed the artist's views on the war. They demonstrated the artist concern for the war, their hopes for the war, and reflected the way enemies were envisioned. Posters also show a nations political status: they reflect a nations allies and enemies, how the nation saw itself, and its greatest hopes and fears of the war.
Therefore, this film is not only a testimony about the German past but also the German present. It displays the irrational annihilation of six young Germans at the end of WWII, summoning up a very agonizing recollection of Nazi Germany’s futile effort to turn back the Allied invasion by hurling teenage boys into the
A propaganda film implies powerful imagery and values delivered through cinematography, and film encapsulates not only manipulation of the audience, but also of footage itself. Implementation of distant and close up shots, variation in angles and speeds of camera movement, as well as precise timing of audio in relation to the film, create an expansive landscape of the Nazi party. The most iconic images of Hitler and party members are captured through Triumph of the Will, with Riefenstahl using landscape shots to present the magnitude of people, contrasted by extreme close-ups of significant party members. Through her masterful techniques, Riefenstahl cemented how to properly garner an emotional response from the audience. As emotions fade along with ties to the source material, opinions diversify and request closer inspection of a topic that was once deemed as a weapon of
During the rise of power of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party 's in the 1930 's, Leni Riefenstahl became a household name as a film director, her claim to fame was putting a public face to Hitler. During this time period, it was very rare for the public to know what their leader looked like, and with this film it allowed many of the Germans to finally get to see who they elected into power. Hitler’s goal was the complete eradication of the Jewish peoples, in addition he wanted to spread his ideology and power across Europe. In order to achieve this goal, Hitler needed the support of all of the German citizens. Which lead to Hitler commissioning, Leni Riefenstahl to direct a film that would later be dubbed the
Heynowski and Scheumann, famous for their Studio H&S during the Cold War, had made extensive films, documentary films in particularly, which focused on West Germany and other ‘imperialist countries’. In particular, one documentary made by Heynoswski, Mord in Lwow,focused on the “alleged Nazi involvement of the West German federal minister.” Similarly, Scheumann had more connections – the Stasi – which provided him to have more political content against the FRG. With this mind, it was no doubt that the collaborations between Heynowski and Scheumann would be focused on “biting critiques against Western imperialism, especially the war in Vietnam, as well as attacks against West Germany.” One of these films was the film Der lachende Mann: Bekenntnisse eines Mörders (The Laughing Man: Confessions of a Murderer). This film focused on a Foreign Legionnaire Siegfried Muller who was a West German; he was depicted as “brutal, unscrupulous murder.” From this, the two filmmakers intended to portray an image of West Germany as ‘brutal’ and ‘imperialists,’ which echoes the GDR’s sentiments toward FRG. Interestingly, this film was not only shown to East German audience, but
Hitler was an avid fan of films, supporting production of many films. Hitler used films effectively to disseminate Nazi propaganda. “Fascism used its mass arenas as stage-props to construct a new kind of hyper-reality for the movies that left the masses unable to distinguish between reality and representation, between truth and propaganda”. One of the most famous films during this time, “Triumph of the Will,” produced in 1935 by Leni Riefensthal, is both aesthetically and technologically outstanding. The film portrays Germany
Just by taking a look at the opening shot we are seeing from Hitler’s view as he looks down upon Germany. His view is high above Germany and its people, as if he is looking down from the heavens. As the view changes it is of the people in the crowd waiting to see Hitler. We are now looking at him as he ascends from the sky full of beautiful, light, fluffy clouds. As if he were a god coming down from the heavens just for Germany to save them in their desperate time of need. As Hitler steps from the plane we are now in the view of him or perhaps a guard, the entire crowd is beside themselves to be in the presence of das Führer. This creation of this god like man, in which all extremely outwardly show such love for definitely creates an “appeal to the hearts of the national masses”.
Since the end of World War 2 in 1945, Nazism has been used throughout films in order to showcase what life was like leading up to, during and momentarily after the second world war. The different perspectives and viewpoints provide the viewers with an idea as to how extreme propaganda, recruitment and control was in Nazi Germany and to what extent the Nazi’s went to in order to display their power and have jurisdiction over the citizens of Germany. In some cases, movies portray the rise of Hitler and Nazi Germany, such as The Lion King, Cabaret and Sophie Scholl, whereas others depict the collapse of Hitler and his Nazi’s, such as Schindler’s List and Downfall. While some movies show an obvious representation of Nazism through the plot line, others use symbolism to subtly express the idea of Nazism.
In the article “War Stories: The Search for a Usable Past in the Federal Republic of Germany” (1995), Robert G. Moeller, a professor of history at the University of California, Irvine, focuses on the topical question of a treatment of the past by Germans in the post-World War II Germany. The author argues that to find a single viewpoint as for the Third Reich period is difficult and the “binary opposition of perpetrator and victim” tends to impact the process of the national self-awareness and self-identification greatly (1048). This results in an uncertainty of an ethical assessment of the historical past and, what is more important, demonstration of a selective memory. The purpose of this paper is to provide interpretation of the 1979 film The Marriage of Maria Braun directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder (1945-1982), a West German filmmaker and a representative of the New German Cinema movement of the 1960s-1980s, taking into consideration the ideas revealed in the article by Moeller. In this way, the main idea of the essay is that in his film, Fassbinder reflects Moeller’s concept of the selective memory by means of dehumanization of film characters while showing the historical post-war period of the German Economic Miracle.