Leni Riefenstahl's "Triumph of the Will" (or, The Art of Propaganda)

The best way to begin a discussion of Leni Riefenstahl's masterwork Triumph des Willens (Triumph of the Will) is with some illustrations. Two things are COMPLETELY obvious from stills taken from the film: the Nazi party is massive and the Nazi party is powerful. In her 1934 propaganda film, Riefenstahl created a document of the 1934 Nazi Party Congress, held in Nuremberg. Through incredible and artistic usages of camera angles, lighting, and other film techniques, Riefenstahl put together pictures of  a Nazi party to be joined, adored, and feared. A Nazi party whose leader was a supreme, almost God-like figure. One who would lead the nation out of the dire straits of Germany of the 1920s and 1930s into a new Aryan Golden Age.

Surprisingly, Riefenstahl was not an old hand at film directing. She had previously directed only a few films and, as far back as 1925, had been acting in various films, including Der heilige Berg (The Holy Mountain) and Das Blaue Licht (The Blue Light- also her directorial debut). Riefenstahl was approached by Adolf Hitler shortly after he gained power. The following quote from Leni herself shows some of her thoughts on being approached by Hitler:

"Shortly after he came to power Hitler called me to see him and explained that he wanted a film about a Party Congress, and wanted me to make it. My first reaction was to say that I did not know anything about the way such a thing worked or the organization of the Party, so that I would obviously photograph all the wrong things and please nobody - even supposing that I could make a documentary, which I had never yet done. Hitler said that this was exactly why he wanted me to do it: because anyone who knew all about the relative importance of the various people and groups and so on might make a film that would be pedantically accurate, but this was not what he wanted. He wanted a film showing the Congress through a non-expert eye, selecting just what was most artistically satisfying - in terms of spectacle, I suppose you might say. He wanted a film which would move, appeal to, impress an audience which was not necessarily interested in politics."

Hitler's goal of getting a film in his hands that showed spectacle and appeal to a mass audience was accomplished admirably (in style, of course-- I'm no neo-Nazi) by Riefenstahl. Riefenstahl's images showed an incredible view of the power and unity of the Nazi Party.

This scene, famously labeled "Sea of Flags," shows how massive the Nazi Party was. With their leader watching over them, the Nazi military marches around the memorial monument in Nuremberg. The incredible amount of unity shown in their movement makes the Nazi Party something bigger than the sum of its parts. It is without a doubt a power to be reckoned with. Riefenstahl created an artistic vision more powerful than anything a poster could have shown and painted a vivid and horrifying picture of the might of the Nazi Party. Here, triumphant trumpet music is used to highlight the power of the party.

In another scene, Riefenstahl shows Hitler marching up to the podium to give a speech in front of the party. Once again, camera angles are used to great effect. Beyond that, though, the noise of the crowd creates an overwhelming sensation-- the Nazi party is huge and is drowning out everything around it.

In the finale to the film, Riefenstahl shows a speech from Hitler. During the speech, she cuts to the crowd frequently. These shots seem to say "Look at this crowd!! See how they pay attention to him! See how they honor him and adore every word that comes out of his mouth!!! Shouldn't you as well? Do you have a choice?"

In her film, Riefenstahl created some of the most lasting images of the most horrifying movement of the 20th century. While the Nazi party has thankfully long since fallen, many of Riefenstahl's artistic angles and shots and her general expertise when it comes to mise-en-scene will continue to influence filmmakers (propagandist and otherwise) for as long as film is an art form.

The Strange and Unsettling World of "Un Chien Andalou"

I can still recall the first time that I had the privilege to view Salvador Dali and Luis Buñuel's silent surrealist masterpiece Un Chien Andalou. I watched the film at about 1:30 in the morning during my first semester at ICC. When I saw the images presented, I was repulsed, shocked, confused, but, more than anything, fascinated. Since seeing Un Chien Andalou, I have been somewhat obsessed with surrealist cinema. That being said, I was disappointed that the textbook delegated no more than a blurb at the bottom of the page to the entire movement. Un Chien Andalou and other films produced by this movement were important to the movement in their time and have since gone on to majorly influence some modern visual art forms.


First off, here's Un Chien Andalou in its entirety:
Full Film (16 minutes)


As the textbook said, "Dali exhibited a perverse desire to shock his audiences." I can definitely say that some of the imagery is very shocking to me (and, like any member of today's society with an affinity for pop culture, I've seen a lot). I think it's amazing that, 82 years since its creation, the film still holds that power.

The idea of the creators came from dreams they had had, such as a dream of Dali's about a hand crawling with ants. They took Freud's ideas of suppressed emotions and the unconscious and attempted to put some of the darker images contained in those areas of the mind into the light. Throughout the film, bizarre violence, nightmarish images, religious references, and the theme of death assault the viewer. Taking all of these ideas and smashing them together into one incredibly unsettling film certainly fulfilled many tenets of surrealism. Dali stated that seeking a meaning in his paintings would be to miss the point altogether. Rather, like his other art, the film was designed to "stamp (itself) indelibly upon the mind," a goal which it admirably accomplishes.

Un Chien Andalou has also been very important to modern filmmakers of all sorts. Well-known critic Roger Ebert, in his review of the film, pointed out that it was one of the first "independent movies." Ken Dancyger, a film scholar, made an inference that the film (with its unique mix of bizarre images, quick cuts, and the like) had a major influence on the making of music videos. A great example of surrealistic styling in music video's is the clip for Soundgarden's 1994 track "Black Hole Sun."

Also, the movie had an INCREDIBLE amount of influence on such classic filmmakers as Cocteau, Renoir, Bergman, and Fellini. The influence stretched even beyond them, to such directors as David Lynch, whose 1977 debut film Eraserhead definitely reflects some of the feeling and ideals of surrealism.

In summation, I find the surrealist film Un Chien Andalou to be of great importance, both in studying the art movement of surrealism and film itself. You may be asking yourself: what does it mean? Don't. Ask how it makes you feel.