Triumph of the Will is one of the greatest and most controversial documentary motion pictures ever filmed. The movie is a powerful propaganda portrait of the Nazi Party in Germany, showing the gathering at the Nazi Party Congress in Nuremberg in 1934. The motion picture was directed by the German actress and director Leni Riefenstahl.
Triumph of the Will was released in 1935. To make the documentary, Riefenstahl used 32 motion-picture cameras and a team of 120 assistants. The film opens with a famous shot of a plane carrying Nazi ruler Adolf Hitler as it descends from the sky for the Nazi rally. The film follows Hitler as he travels through the crowded streets of Nuremberg, makes speeches to civilians and troops, and reviews a long parade.
Riefenstahl was Hitler’s personal choice to make the documentary. Film critics and historians agree that the work is a masterpiece of artistic filming and editing, but they have attacked Riefenstahl for glorifying Hitler and his party. However, she claimed that she was interested only in making an artistic record of the rally rather than a political statement. Even critics who accept her view of the project insist that as an artist she still bears responsibility for the political impact of her work.
See also Riefenstahl, Leni .
