Ashley C. Post 3

Ashley Cannaday

In my opinion, Leni Riefenstahl’s work, specifically Triumph of the Will, is beautiful in an artistic sense. Many of her filmmaking techniques were ground-breaking and unheard of at that time period in Germany. It is very evident from watching clips of Triumph of the Will that an immense amount of thought, ingenuity, and work went into making of this film.

The film opens with an arial view of dawn, surrounded by clouds. Riefenstahl placed the camera that shot this scene on one of the military planes that flew in the sky, giving a heavenly, peaceful view. The music she chose for the opening scene matched very well. It was serene and uplifting. Using the technique of shooting from a plane in air, Riefenstahl was able to show the city of Nuremburg from a bird’s-eye view, emphasizing the architecture and beauty of its gothic style. In the next scene, as Hitler rides through the city, with an adoring crowd cheering and saluting him, Riefenstahl sets up the camera in the car that Hitler is riding in, and uses a camera view that shows Hitler’s back and the people off to the side. This technique of camera view makes it seem as though we are seeing things from Hitler’s perspective, and inspires a sense of power and prestige.

One of the final scenes, and the culmination of Triumph of the Will, is the outdoor rally. For this shot, Riefenstahl used various innovative techniques. Many of the camera’s were put on tracks that were built so that they could move, giving the effect of a panning, wide screen, all inclusive shot. These panning shots showed the rally in its entire entirety, and enforced its enormous magnitude. As Hitler walked up the center path, what seemed like the only barren area, flagged by two other men, the camera view was high and zoomed out, giving the effect of a long, desolate, heroic march. When I viewed this scene, it reminded me of any of the astronaut movies that I’ve ever seen. After a challenging mission in space and a successful landing, the astronauts walk down the runway side by side in a very heroic fashion, to the cheers of many. This shot of Hitler marching has the same heroic atmosphere. Another unheard of technique that Riefenstahl used for this scene was a camera attached to the rope of a flag pole, so that it could be moved up and down.

It was said that there were about 80,000 people at the Nuremburg Rally. The enormity of the troops, and the way they moved in such unity add to the beauty of the film. It looked like a sea of people, all massed together, while the only person who remained an individual was Hitler.

It is undeniable that Riefenstahl’s Triumph of the Will is a work that is aesthetically and artistically beautiful. Numerous innovative and completely new techniques were used, and so much thought was given to camera angles, view, and the flow of the film that there is a reason it won many awards in the late 1930s.

I tend to agree with the claim that “art does not apologize.” I think that the artist has the right to make whatever kind of art they want, depicting whatever message and beauty that they choose. The viewing public must keep in mind that all art has an embedded message, and they must be critical of whether they believe this message or not. I believe the responsibility lies with the viewer. Devereaux believed, as explained in Beauty and Evil, that one must use the formalist technique when judging art. It is best to judge the artistic aspects separately from the underlying message of the artwork. Leni Riefenstahl made an artistically beautiful and innovative film, and she should not have to apologize for that. The consequences of her film were a result of how the viewers interpreted it and their take on the overall message.