Adolf Hitler has the charisma of Clark Gable and the niche appeal of a Werner Herzog.

Boring. Had some interesting parts, but a lot of it dragged. I suppose it would be different if I was German and recognized the cities and scenery and things.

My customary score for a film that is brilliant in technique but repugnant in content (see Birth of a Nation). I think it speaks volumes to the legitimacy of documentary film-making that two of its greatest early examples (this, and Nanook) were essentially re-staged for the benefit of the camera. It's impossible to truly trust what you see as an objective account of events. This particular film drags in the extreme... even in class we generously applied the fast forward button. See it once.

Breathtaking and unbelievable... Riefenstahl was a great filmmaker,but sadly she is mostly remembered for being Hitlers director instead of a great creative and passionate movie maker. The scenes from the Nazi parade are amazing, and she captures Hitler as the magnificent speaker as he was. This film is obligatory for anyone who has the slightest interest in WWII...

Rifenstahl manages to capture a boring, insane and propagandistic event, and actually make it passable enough to watch. Good cinematography, but thats about it.

tricky rating a film where a lot of it (the first 3/4?) blew chunks, and the remaining quarter provided a real aesthetic kick in the pants, harnessing the frightening magnintude of the gargantuan rallies, featuring that vertiginous elevator shot LR pulls off. I wouldn't in the least bit be surprised if a young Kubrick - had he seen this - would be TOTALLY influenced by LR's fetish for symmetry, centering the composition in a lot of those shots of the Nuremberg rally.

Not all that hot. Parades and endless speeches. Plus, they're freaking Nazis.

Pretty boring actually... but it seemed to work well...

Gonna agree with Ebert's opinion that, while undoubtedly a canon film, it's not that cinematically remarkable. Still some awesome crowd & speech scenes.

Yes, it's as horrible (and beautiful) as they say.

A great spectacle to watch, but it does drag on. The 1 hr 45 minute running time does not help but it was interesting and to actually listen to what they had to say for themselves is pretty astonishing considering the things that these people would go on to do. Nothing special though really although it is well made which is probably the most redeeming aspect.

Two words: fast forward.

Well shot, pretty historical. But you mostly see people marching and praising Hitler. Gets more interesting during the speeches though (which are quite horrifying because you know what the future brought)

#331

It's hard for me to rate this, seeing as though it's two things - a groundbreaking film for its genre, and propaganda film for the Nazi party. On one hand, if we can rationalize that this film was made prior to all of the atrocities that occurred, we might be able to view it in a fairer light. But we all know you can't turn a blind eye on history. Every single point of my score was awarded for cinematography alone.

Obviously this can only be viewed in its historical context and as a female director in the 1930's it is a truimph for Leni Riefenstahl but I found it tedious. Probably should have watched the version with the commenatry.

A hard film to both watch and rate. The cinematography is great considering the time it was shot and it is a great look at the impact of propaganda. While it has value in the sense of history and watching select scenes can be interesting, the film as a whole really drags. Most every scene is too long and most scenes are pretty repetitive of each other. It's like being forced to watch incredibly long home movies of people, you just get to see how self-absorbed they are.

Even though it propagates the absurd Nazi ideology this picture is a masterpiece of film making.

Down right chilling.

347

sigh. unfortunately.

Leni was a (misguided) genius, with a perfectly charismatic subject.

I was expecting to see insight into the Nazi takeover of Germany or at least some interesting imagery but it was actually just really really boring.

Good film. The Cinematography is amazing. The movie shows perfectly just how powerful and insane the Nazi's and Hitler were. Cinematically genius, but very sad and scary in any other perspetive.

From a film making point of view this film is nothing short of sheer genius. Absolutely amazing cinematography. The massive German army demonstrations are so impressive that this truly allows you to see how the entire country was rallied behind Hitler and his so called "national pride". However, this is also absolutely terrifying to see such might when you know the terrible destruction and inhuman war crimes that would soon come to pass.

Certainly it's a masterpiece of impressive spectacle and cinematography. As effective propoganda, I'm sure it's unparalled. There's actually not much of substance at all; most of the speeches are abstractions about loyalty and pride and strength. Specifics are strictly avoided. Overall it's an impressive work on Riefenstahl's part, although it does get tedious after a while. Then again, I'm watching at home on my couch, not on a big screen in a theater full of fanatical Germans.

Really, I could have given this film any score and been fine with it. The message of the film is, of course deplorable, and the presentation is a bit dated, with some of the marches going on way too long. Still, as an examination of the power of propaganda it's amazing, both as a stand alone piece, looking at the way Riefenstahl uses images to entrance the viewer, and in the context of what it ended up being.

# 301

I strongly advise if you're going to watch this, get your hands on the DVD with commentary by historian Dr. Anthony R. Santoro.

Unparalleled. In every way, both good and bad.

Impressive, not good

Really quite interesting. Terribly depressing, but it was an incredibly well made film.

'Triumph of the Will' tells the part of the story that is neglected in schools, and makes the comprehension of this historic context so hard: how good willing people, frustrated masses are carried away by utopias and allow themselves to desintegrate as indivudals to form a conscienceless mass. But it's also an amazing historical document because it is so perfectly well crafted by Reifenstahl; perfect timing, use of soundtrack and breathtaking photography, far ahead of it's times.

325

Riefenstahl was a master of cinematography. She quite simply does not receive enough credit for what she did with the medium. Those who don't see the revolutionary filming techniques pioneered in this political showcase need to look at it from a dissociated perspective and imagine themselves as an early 20th century European not used to constant visual media saturation.

It's not really possible to rate this.

Great Cinematography

Poison in a pretty pill is still poison.