It is hard to remember that artists as diverse as Phidias, Leonardo da Vinci, and Michaelangelo, as well as great modern film makers like Sergei Eisenstein (under Stalin) and Leni Riefenstahl (under Hitler) had to be funded in a particular time and a particular place. And as their political masters changed, so did their ability to continue working and so did the focus of their efforts. The talent of da Vinci in his later years was diverted to the design of fortifications for the Sforzas of Milan and he died in France as another captured work of art stolen from Italy by Francis I.

The constant disregard of this recurring fact of life for many centuries causes us to constantly rewrite the history and misunderstand the accomplishment of their works in the light of our current political ideologies.

If there is one amazing thing about "The Triumph of the Will" it is the extraordinary acceptance and critical acclaim the film had all over the world at the time it was released, culminating with its being awarded the Gold Medal at the 1937 Paris World's Fair. The French had been driven out of their Rhineland occupation barely a year earlier and were rather unlikely to honor anything they regarded as a "propaganda film" for the Nazis.

It was a film Riefenstahl never wanted to make. She continually risked her career by refusing Goebbel's demands to make films like this and only weakened when Hitler asked her personally to make the film and gave her total control of its production and final cut. The Ministry of Propaganda constantly interfered with its "out of control" production during its creation as well. It was an unloved stepchild of the Third Reich from its conception to its birth.

Few of the millions who have seen it realize there is NO voice-over script cueing them how to react. Voice-over scripts were common in newsreels and documentaries then and now, and it impossible to think of a single propaganda film since the invention of sound film that has ever failed to contain one. Very few even know enough German to be able to understand what is said in the speeches unwinding before them. And fewer still realize how much the subtitles leave out. And few of us have seen the film in a cut that the director has approved, given the many bootleg versions floating around.

What overwhelms audiences is the power of the medium of film itself handled by one of its early masters. In capturing the mesmerizing experience shared by those participating in the multiple events of the annual Nurnberg Nazi Party Days. Riefenstahl exposes our vulnerability to the totalitarian temptation to throw away all the uncertainty of our individual responsibility for some great "cause" which can unite and thrill us with a sense of invincibility. And, of course, we blame her as the artist for that terrifying insight.

Riefenstahl's film work has one common theme: her love for the heroic. From her early Alpine films and adventure films as both actress and director, to her later work on the Nuba tribespeople of Africa, that has been the thread that unites it. There is nothing in this of the Aryan delusions of the Third Reich which would never have allowed her to find nobility in Sudanese black "subhumans" like the Nuba. Her "Olympia" on the 1936 Berlin Olympics neglects no nation's accomplishment in favor of the Germans who won the largest total of medals there. And she has the best and most exciting footage of any documentary or newsreel account of the triumph of American black athlete Jesse Owens. Any illusions Riefenstahl may have had about the heroic film possibilities of documentary making during World War II evaporated in her first trip to the front during the invasion of Poland that commenced it, when she fled after witnessing an atrocity and never made another contemporary film for the remainder of the war.

These are the simple facts. They have been tested in "deNazification" procedures, dozens of libel cases, and best and worst efforts of critics and social historians for over fifty years. And in spite of them, Leni Riefenstahl was effectively prevented from working on any major film project for the remainder of her career.

Unfortunately, heroes can be Spartan warriors destroying the glories of Periclean Athens, Confederate soldiers fighting bravely to maintain a slave state, Nazi troops whose heroism had been perverted to the spread of racist genocide, or Viet Cong attacking American soldiers against impossible odds during the Tet Offensive. But at least soldiers honor the heroism of their adversaries whichever side they may be on. Intellectuals and critics do their best to find any excuse to avoid being soldiers and only value what they find "correct," depending upon what ideological fashions blow them from one generation to the next.

No critic's name is long remembered. Great art endures. And so will the powerful documentary art of Leni Riefenstahl.

Now, I'll probably get kicked around the soccer field for this, but if Disney got their hands on this.. They'd burn every copy. They don't like remembering history. They censor half of their best older films. And some they've totally forgotten. There's an old saying. If your forget the past your doomed to repeat it. Well, Disney's just looking for trouble now aren't they.

Synapse Films however has done the right thing by preserving a piece of history. This is some of Leni's finest work. Alot of people wish she was dead, but a 100.. she's seems just fine. Whatever religion you are.. it should be a require watch to watch this film. Although, there's a good chance that some of you might be pulled into the web by the stunningly good chance of addiction into propaganda. Hmmm, who shall I tick off by picking on propaganda. I know... Charleston Heston. Ever watched one of those 1/2 hour NRA ads. They try to twist every left wing speech. They use the power of video just like Hitler did. I'm not saying that we should ban guns, but come on. What does NRA stand for? National RIFLE Association. Not National Sub Machine Gun Asso.

There's a KKK film someone suggested I watch. (Birth of a Nation??) 1916. Perhaps I will. Although from what I've heard it isn't about the KKK. But alot of KKK members sure do love it.

10/10

Quality: 10/10 Entertainment: 2/10 (You better not get alot of enjoyment out of this!) Replayable: 10/10

How does one begin to decribe this film? The sight of Hitler arriving, almost god-like from the clouds, and being greeted by masses of adoring people; his lock-stepped soldiers following him in near-religious procession; praise heaped upon him by his henchmen...in hindsight, it all seems so surreal. But it is the masterwork of cinematographer Leni Riefenstahl that makes this film what it is; What could have been a very boring documentary about a party gathering is instead one of the most controvercial and infamous propaganda films ever made.

Film-makers, cinema historians, and even television commercial directors have studied this film down to the last and final frames. The magnetic draw it can have has been decribed as near-demonic, and that only proves what a magnificent film-maker Riefenstahl was. It is a tragedy that this film would haunt her for the rest of career, even though she never was a member of the Nazi party. One can only wonder what sort of epic films the world has been cheated out of.

Near the very end of the film are we given a brief glimpse of the "real" Hitler. During his speech, the assembled faithful interrupt him with chants of "Seig Heil!". Hitler pauses, looks down at his papers, and nods slightly with an approving grin. An egomaniac of the first order.

What was originally the most successful propaganda film ever made now serves us today as a warning from history about the seduction of images. We can only be thankful that today's propaganda isn't this well made.