Triumph of the Will: Encyclopedia II - Triumph of the Will - Response

Triumph of the Will - Response

Triumph of the Will premiered on March 28, 1935 at the Berlin Ufa Palace Theater and was an instant success. Within two months the film had earned 815,000 Reichsmarks, and the Ufa considered it one of the three most profitable films of that year.^[3] Hitler praised the film as being an "incomparable glorification of the power and beauty of our Movement." For her efforts, Riefenstahl was rewarded with the German Film Prize (Deutscher Filmpreis), a gold medal at the 1935 Venice Biennale, and the Grand Prix at the 1937 World Exhibition in Paris.^[9] However, there were few claims that the film would result in a mass influx of 'converts' to fascism and the Nazis apparently did not make a serious effort to promote the film outside of Germany. Film historian Richard Taylor also said that Triumph was not generally used for propaganda purposes inside the Third Reich,^[10] although Roy Frumkes argued that, on the contrary, it was shown each year in every German theater until 1945.^[8]

The reception in other countries was not as enthusiastic. British documentarian Paul Rotha called it tedious, while others were repelled by its pro-Nazi sentiments.^[3] During World War II, Frank Capra made a direct response called Why We Fight, a series of newsreels commissioned by the United States government that spliced in footage from Triumph of the Will, but recontextualized it so that it promoted the cause of the Allies instead. Capra later remarked that Triumph, "fired no gun, dropped no bombs. But as a psychological weapon aimed at destroying the will to resist, it was just as lethal."^[11] Clips from Triumph were also used in an Allied propaganda short called General Adolph Takes Over, set to the British dance tune "The Lambeth Walk". The legions of marching soldiers, as well as Hitler giving his Nazi salute, were made to look like wind-up dolls, dancing to the music.

One of the best ways to gauge the response to Triumph was the instant and lasting international fame it gave Leni Riefenstahl. The Economist said it "sealed her reputation as the greatest female film-maker of the 20th century."^[12] For a director who made eight films, only two of which received significant coverage outside of Germany, Riefenstahl had unusually high name recognition for the remainder of her life, most of it stemming from Triumph. However, her career was also permanently damaged by this association. After the war, Riefenstahl was imprisoned by the Allies for four years for allegedly being a Nazi sympathizer and was permanently blacklisted by the film industry. When she died in 2003, sixty-eight years after its premier, her obituary recieved significant coverage in many major publications -- including the Associated Press,^[13] Wall Street Journal,^[14] New York Times,^[7] and The Guardian^[15] -- most of which reaffirmed the importance of Triumph.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Response", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki