People Need To Stop Slandering

I don´t think "slander" is really a very fitting word to use here.

And what great speeches? If it weren´t for the historical context, the crude ranting would just come across as
silly more than anything else.



"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan

Actually it is possible to also just find 'Triumph of the Will' boring. I'm not a fan of Soviet communism either but at least they put together some artistic and moving propaganda films. 'Triumph of the Will', on the other hand, has 2 hours of parades with lock step marching and Nazi banners — it really wears thin by the end. And the speeches, although loud and emphatic, were vague and silly. Even from a technical standpoint 'Triumph of the Will' was hardly impressive. Again, see Soviet documentary film making (e.g. Vertov) for masterful camerawork and editing. The fact that many people are moved by the empty posturing in 'Triumph..' makes me wonder what this film is revealing about those who watch it.

If the wish to call this a propaganda film they better title most of Hollywood films as the same.

Paradoxically the only blatant Nazi propaganda is the show of such complete adulation of Hitler. Even the infamous Jew-baiter Julius Streicher is shown advocating that Germans adhere to 'racial purity' as a guiding principle of personal life. (If Streicher smeared the Jews specifically, which was his wont, then Leni Riefenstein did not show it on film). None of the smears of Jews or denunciations of foreign powers that characterize Hitler in a short time are shown here.

It is a tool of propaganda in forming the dangerous cult of personality around Hitler, a cult of personality that allowed him to rule without conscience or caution.

This film was made in part for foreign consumption -- a show of the full unification of Germany which had been splintered between competing Parties and had been divided in regions then relics of the German states that existed before 1871. However silly some of the scenes are (like the construction laborers and the farm workers marching off as if armies) -- it evidently worked. Seen through the filter of Nazi aggression, atrocities, and defeat it does not now hold up well. Hitler seems an overpowering speaker until one sees his words in translation for their philosophical and moral hollowness. The music is far more banal than one would expect for Germany (in view of its musical heritage -- Schutz, Heinichen, Bach, Handel, Telemann, Beethoven, Wagner, Brahms...)

This film was so popular WORLDWIDE that TIME MAGAZINE made Hitler "Man of the Year" the year this film came out, 1935.. the film is a masterpiece, the Nazis the epitome of evil personnified and incarnated in human form..

they are now the archetypes for EVIL itself, so we need to not only study but NOT REPEAT their methods - it doesn't matter that you simply change the flags to "stars and stripes", each side claims to be both Christian, and to "have god on our side" (on the Nazi belt buckles! like "In God We Trust" on our money!)..

each nation's propaganda was that their were not "invading" other nations, but "liberating the people" from the "tyranny of the Allies".. substitute "Taliban" or "Dictators" and you have the US today, waging "invasions of liberation".. we've already topped the Nazis in genocide, killing 150 million Native Americans when we stole our nation from them, so even if the Nazis killed "50 million extras" (and Stalin the same), they are still below the U.S. genocidal death count.. in fact, Hitler said he was inspired by "how the U.S. dealt with the Indians", and that our reservations were the model for his concentration camps

BRILLIANT FILMS, all of hers - INSANE, SOCIOPATHIC PHILOSOPHY on display for all of history, thanks to this.. STUDY AND LEARN filmmaking technique.. like the cameras buried in the track to get the 100 yard dash start in OLYMPIA from ground level..

My only regret in life is that I'm not someone else - Woody Allen

This film was so popular worldwide and in the U.S. that it was largely responsible for Time Magazine making Hitler it's "Man of the Year" for 1935!.. yes, it's nothing but propaganda, but compared to U.S. propaganda out of Hollywood (I'm thinking Irving Berlin musicals, LOL), it's more artistic and innovative cinema, then placed in historical context of other 30s films, and it's decades ahead of the standard early 30s fare..

My only regret in life is that I'm not someone else - Woody Allen