MovieChat Forums > Triumph des Willens (1935) Discussion > Scary

Scary

posted 21 years ago by Jimmy_Hillside
17 replies | jump to latest

The day before Leni died I had rented Triumph of the Will. It was a fascinating look into the Nazi regime and the important players that spoke. The speeches were eerie enough, but seeing the images of the hoardes of people and the robotic movements of his followers is what propoganda films is all about! To convey their views to the vastly illiterate masses (due to the repercussions of WWI), Hitler employed Leni to spread his agenda. Whether or not Leni was a Nazi is still not definite. Any answers will be appreciated.

[–] PittFan 21 years ago

I think Leni did her best to be patriotic. The monstrosities that she would later be tied to were clearly not of her divising. To the Victors go the spoils, and the victors write the epilogue, no matter what the truth is. Leni has been cast in an unfair light here in the next millenium, and Leni tried to distance herself from the powerfull men of her youth.

[–] 21 years ago

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[–] chrisburin 21 years ago

She wasn't a Nazi at the time but held extreme right-wing views in later life, her films shot in Africa are pretty racist. But, despite moral qualms, I don't think politics should detract from what is a fantastic piece of film-making; interesting to compare it with the Russian formalist films, most notably Eisenstein rather than Vertov or anyone else, as his interest in montage means he hits the spectator with a sequence of highly-emotional symbolic scenes, and the 'enemy' is often grossly caricatured (most hilariously in 'Strike' when the first sight of 'The Director' is an enormously fat bloke blowing cigar smoke into peoples faces and 'The Shareholders' waddle around like overweight penguins), whereas Riefenstahl, though not adverse to symbolism (for example when the flags seem to create a sea of colour) is far more realist.

[–] heebie_jeebies 21 years ago

What "films shot in Africa"? There's nothing listed under her IMDB profile to suggest she shot anything of the sort, so I'm curious to know what you're referring to. I'm hoping that she made some films that aren't listed, because I was so awestruck by the artistry of Triumph of the Will that I'd love to see anything else directed by her!

[–] Claudia- 21 years ago

Her IMDB bio refers to her time in Africa.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0319739/ , Leni Riefenstahl im Sudan, is a documentary about it, I think.

http://www.taschen.com/pages/en/catalogue/books/artists_editions/all/facts/02605.htm

As far as what was published, I think it's all photography rather than film, even though the Taschen page refers to film projects in Africa.

[–] rwsmith29456 17 years ago

She also specialized in filming underwater for a time. I'm not sure if the footage was actually made into a movie, but the pieces of it I've seen were pretty impressive.

[–] xbhaskarx 21 years ago

what extreme right wing views did she hold later in life?
why do you say that the footage and photographs she shot in africa are pretty racist?
i saw a documentary about her that showed her with a tribe in africa and that didn't appear to be the case...

where are you getting this stuff? do you have a source or are you just making it up?

"Wallace Beery. Wrestling picture. What do you need, a road map?"

[–] Krustallos 21 years ago

I saw the photos she took in Africa (of the Nuba in Sudan) and there was nothing racist about them. They were celebrations of athleticism and the beauty of the human body, rather like her Olympia movies of 1938. If she held racist opinions I didn't see them reflected in the African work.

I think politically she never expressed regret for the part she played in the rise of the Nazis, just pointed out that she was never a member of the party. Personally I don't think that's good enough, but I don't know if it means she held extreme right wing views.

[–] 21 years ago

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[–] Krustallos 21 years ago

The photographs aren't testimony to anything of the sort, they show a strong people with immense dignity, as I dare say Riefenstahl intended.

If the industrialised slaughter of millions of people is "forward", my vote is for backwardness.

[–] aaron-196 21 years ago

If I shota documentary on Bush, what would Germany consider me?

[–] WonderB_esq 21 years ago

Well, if this was 1934, probably the most honored film-maker cataloging the glorious rise of what is hopefully a one-term Reich, LOL.

[–] 21 years ago

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[–] 21 years ago

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[–] rwsmith29456 17 years ago

I think Riefenstahl simply made a great movie of the people that would bring much of the world into war in the near future. Do people think that Hitler told her to do a lousy job showing the Nazi party? I don't think she was a Nazi, but she made great films for Nazis.

[–] 17 years ago

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[–] smigrobustus 11 years ago

Please.......leni would do WHATEVER benefited LENI. TO SAY SHE WAS A FILTHY WHORE is an understatement. And the bitch lied when she said she never saw any slave labor........she was a pig....plain and simple