Triumph of the Will (1935)
"Triumph des Willens" (original title)

The infamous propaganda film of the 1934 Nazi Party rally in Nuremberg, Germany.

Director:

Leni Riefenstahl

Writers:

Leni Riefenstahl, Walter Ruttmann,

Stars:

Adolf Hitler, Max Amann, Martin Bormann

1 win.

Cast

Credited cast:
Adolf Hitler	...	Himself - Lauded by Hess, Physical Labour Speech to RAD, Behind Us Comes Germany Speech to HJ, We Created Our State Speech, Black Shadow Speech to SA, Reviews Parade, Two Principles Speech to Party
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Max Amann	...	Himself - Views Parade of SA in Long Pants, No Banners
Martin Bormann	...	Himself - Sits on Hitler's Left, at HJ Rally, Enters Hall Behind Hess, Sits Behind Streicher
Walter Buch	...	Himself - Views Parade of SA in Long Pants, No Banners, Views SS Parade
Walter Darré	...	Himself - Health of Our Farmers Speech
Otto Dietrich	...	Himself - Truth About Germany Speech
Sepp Dietrich	...	Himself - Commander of the SS-Leibstandarten
Hans Frank	...	Himself - Speech
Josef Goebbels	...	Himself - Arrives by Plane with Hitler, Bright Flame Speech, at HJ Rally, Views RAD Parade, Listens to Hitler
Jakob Grimminger	...	Blood Flag Bearer
Hermann Göring	...	Himself - Listens to Hess, Reviews Army, Parades in SA Uniform Then Joins Hitler, Listens to Hitler, Stands and Nods Agreement
Rudolf Hess	...	Himself - Opens Congress, You Are Germany Speech, at HJ Rally, Reviews Parade, Sits on Hitler's Right, Introduces Hitler, Listens to Hitler, Hitler Is Germany Speech
Reinhard Heydrich	...	Himself - Views SS Parade with Other Officers by Hitler's Car
Konstantin Hierl	...	Himself - National Labour Service Speech, Presents RAD to Hitler, Leads RAD Parade Then Joins Hitler
Heinrich Himmler	...	Himself - Walks to Flame with Hitler and Lutze, Leads SS at SA Rally, Leads SS Parade Then Joins Hitler, Sits Beside Lutze, Listens to Hitler

Storyline

A legendary propaganda/documentary of the Third Reich's 1934 Nuremberg Party Rally. Featuring a cast of thousands as well as, of course, Hitler, Himmler, Goebbels, Hess, Goering and other top party officials.

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Plot Keywords:

nuremberg | hitler | third reich | nazi | rally | 

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Genres:

Documentary | War

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Details

Country:

Germany

Language:

German

Release Date:

28 March 1935 (Germany)

Also Known As:

Triumph of the Will

Filming Locations:

Nuremberg, Bavaria, Germany

Company Credits

Production Co:

Leni Riefenstahl-Produktion, Reichspropagandaleitung der NSDAP

Technical Specs

Runtime:

114 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Tobis-Klangfilm)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Leni Riefenstahl had been given carte blanche by Adolf Hitler in the making of the film: effectively, the party rally was the first produced-for-camera event. However, at the beginning the word hadn't gotten through to officials at the airport and in the parade. Riefenstahl's cameramen were pushed away from the plane carrying Hitler, which is why we see only one out-of-focus shot of him descending from the plane and why the taxiing of the aircraft is repeated and out of sequence. During the parade a shot of the camera car passing the limo carrying Hitler reveals a dirty look from one of the passengers. Riefenstahl spoke to Hitler at the hotel about the way she'd been snubbed and from then on she and her crew had no problems.

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Quotes

[first lines]
subtitle: The documentary of the Reich Party Congress, 1934 - Produced by order of the Führer.
Opening crawl: On September 5, 1934, 20 years after the outbreak of the World War, 16 years after Germany's Suffering, 19 months after the beginning of the German Rebirth, Adolf Hitler again flew to Nuremberg to review the assembly of his faithful followers.
crowd: [for more than 20 minutes, there is only one discernible word:] Heil! Heil! Heil!...
Rudolf Hess: I open the sixth Party Congress in respectful memory of he who has passed...

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Connections

Referenced in The Powerpuff Girls (2002)

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Soundtracks

"Unsere Fahne Flattere für Uns (Our Banner Waves On Before Us)"

User Reviews

An oxymoron of a film: A masterpiece about Nazis

This movie has driven cinephiles and artsy folks crazy for years. Taken objectively, the film is a masterpiece of images, technically flawless, and really quite a stunning achievement. The real problem is that it's a masterpiece about the master race -- it glorifies Nazis. In fact it unquestionably rises above simple "propaganda" and succeeds in being a film about ideas and society. That's the next problem, the ideas and society it idealizes and promotes are quite compelling. There's no death here, no gashouses, no corpses, no pure evil, nothing like that. And it's also not just inane images of noble people doing noble things, etc., like run of the mill propaganda produced by every political party.

Ultimately, this is not a film to be seen in a vacuum; were this the only thing a person knew about Nazis, one would get a very, very incomplete view. But strangely, it provides insights as well, once one knows about the evil that the Nazis did--the movie shows the attraction, the compelling nature of some ideas. And that evil, no matter how clear and vicious in nature, is still attached to a human being, and hence is ultimately enormously complex.

This is a great film that any serious film student or lover should see. If only to understand how funny it is to see the artistes of the world trying to describe it without saying anything nice about Nazis. Evil is never pure, that's what makes it so compelling and this film helps to explain that.