Triumph des Willens (Triumph of the Will)

Triumph des Willens - Triumph of the Will

(1935)

Triumph of the Will (German: Triumph des Willens) is a 1934 film made by Leni Riefenstahl. It chronicles the 1934 - Party Congress of the NSDAP in Nuremberg, which was attended by more than 700,000 National-Socialists. The film contains excerpts from speeches given by various NS leaders at the Congress, including portions of speeches by Adolf Hitler, interspersed with footage of massed party members. The Führer commissioned the film and served as an unofficial executive producer; his name appears in the opening titles. The overriding theme of the film is the return of Germany as a great power, with Hitler as the True German Leader who will bring glory to the nation.

Triumph of the Will was released in 1935 and rapidly became one of the best-known examples of propaganda-educational film in the history. Riefenstahl's techniques, such as moving cameras, the use of long focus lenses to create a distorted perspective, aerial photography, and revolutionary approach to the use of music and cinematography, have earned Triumph recognition as one of the greatest films in history. Riefenstahl won several awards, not only in Germany but also in the United States, France, Sweden, and other countries. The film was popular in the Third Reich and elsewhere, and has continued to influence movies, documentaries, and commercials to this day.