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Released by: Synapse Films
Released on: December 15th, 2015.
Director: Leni Riefenstahl
Cast: N/A
Year: 1935
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The Movie:
Leni Riefenstahl's Triumph Of The Will is a dangerous film despite the fact that it's roughly eighty years old at the time of this writing. It is expertly made, it stands as a piece of groundbreaking and important cinema and it's a piece of blatant Nazi propaganda. The political slant makes it very tough to separate the art from the artist in this case and while Leni Riefenstahl never officially joined Hitler's gang of merry men, her work certainly went a long way into ensuring that a whole lot of other people did. The complexity comes not in evaluating its political statement - it simply cannot be defended, it's wrong - but in evaluating it as a piece of cinema removed from the fascist leanings of its subject. It's completely manipulative and at the same time, and partially because of that manipulation, it's also quite brilliant.
So what is Triumph Of The Will? The simplest explanation is that it's a filmed account of the 1934 Nuremberg National Socialist Rally, which was a seven day festival that was basically held to celebrate Hitler's rise to power. Throughout the two hour running time of the movie we see Hitler presented as a godlike being, almost angelic in spots, while thousands and uniformed stormtroopers march through the square all very obviously under his control. The crowd of German people who have shown up to take in the sights are all shown as completely, almost madly, in love with their leader. They are seen cheering and offering their support during his speeches, many of which are captured here in all their frenetic glory. There are some musical numbers, footage of the Hitler Youth all pledging their allegiance, and even more speeches, from both Hitler and some of his high ranking officials.
Through the magic of editing and by using literally every cinematic trick in the book, Riefenstahl's film becomes less a literal document of an event and more a point of view. We see here a kinder, gentler Hitler than we'd expect. We see this when, at one point early in the film, on he acknowledges a cat and seems to approve of the cute little critter. Before then he's shown as literally descending from the sky, looking very much like a perverse messianic figure. When speaking he's not simply shot straight on, the film makes sure we see how enthusiastic the people there to hear him are, how completely engrossed in his words they become, and it seems to offer us the chance to subscribe to the same gospel, almost asking us if we'd like to be like they are and pray to the very same god. This is very much a larger than life portrait of a truly evil man who was larger than life, and it still has the power to sway even now. Not that it's going to make you want to goose step down the street and kill your non-Aryan neighbor, but you can see how when it was shown in every theater in Germany during the Second World War it might have had an effect on the people.
The film presents these events as the legitimate truth, but it doesn't take a genius to see just how much the footage has been manipulated in post-production and by using multiple takes of the same event (meaning that much of it was obviously staged). Seventy years ago, however, audiences weren't as savvy as they are today, and were likely easier to take in with tricks such as the ones just mentioned. The film was entirely financed by the Nazi Party and every resource of that very large political power was made available to Riefenstahl. This ensured that she was able to create the film that they wanted. They even went so far as to include details in the stadium design to accommodate her crew and allow her to capture certain shots from certain angles. As such, the scope of this 'documentary' became huge, and the footage, as twisted as it might sound, speaks for itself. The imagery in the film is undeniably impressive and powerful and it remains today a completely eerie reminder of what so many people went through during that time. It's a testament to the power of one evil man who tapped in to the right part of a nationalist culture at the right time with decidedly dangerous results. Here's hoping history doesn't forget that lesson anytime soon…
Video/Audio/Extras:
Triumph Of The Will debuts on Blu-ray in an AVC encoded 1080p high definition transfer framed in its original 1.19.1 aspect ratio. This new transfer offers a considerable improvement over past releases. The contrast is spot on, the black levels are nice and deep but never muddy and there's a lot more fine detail evident in the picture. There are no problems with any compression artifacts and there's very little print damage here, but at the same time the film's grain hasn't been smoothed over so we wind up and an appropriately film-like look to the picture.
The only audio option for the feature is a German language DTS-HD Mono track, though optional subtitles are provided in English, French, Spanish and Japanese. Again, compared to the DVD release, there's an improvement. Depth is a bit stronger here and there's better clarity and range to the track. It still sounds like an older single track mix, as it should, but it's cleaner and stronger than it has been before.
The main supplement is a commentary track from Dr. Anthony Santoro, a historian who does an excellent job of putting the film into the proper historical context and of explaining the history of its genesis. He delves into the life and times of Leni Riefenstahl a fair bit and explains the importance of this film in relation to its influence and the new ground that she was able to break as a director and she also explains what happened to her after the end of the Second World War. History buffs should really enjoy this track, as Santoro manages to pack it with a lot of really good information and it really does manage to help improve one's appreciation of what could easily be looked down upon due to its subject matter.
Synapse has also included a seventeen minute short film also directed by Leni Riefenstahl entitled Days Of Freedom. Shot the same year as the feature on the disc, this short captures the German army at Nurnberg, and it demonstrates the power and ability that the German war machine of the era had in addition to more relaxed moments such as when the soldiers shower, and groom themselves, highlighted by the bizarre image of some German air force planes flying into a Swastika formation. It's interesting more to see an early example of the propaganda film than for any other reason, though it makes perfect sense to include it on this release as it fits in with Triumph Of The Will very well and makes for a good companion piece to that more involved and more accomplished movie.
Rounding out the supplements is a set of liner notes courtesy of Roy Frumkes, who details the history of the film and some of the ongoing controversy that exists around it, and who also makes an interesting case as to how it can be appreciated as high camp as well as in a more serious light.
The Final Word:
While the extras on this re-release are pretty much identical to the earlier Synapse DVD release, the improved high definition transfer makes a big difference in being able to appreciate the look of the film. Triumph Of The Will is Nazi propaganda to be sure and those sensitive to such material may find it distasteful but anyone who is able to look at the material objectively can plainly see the historical importance of the film and this presentation does it justice.
Click on the images below for full sized Blu-ray screen caps!
