International studies, Vol. IX No. 1, 2009.
Original scientific paper
"Triumph of the Will" as the triumph of nacizm. Propaganda in Leni Riefenstahl's film
Tihomir Cipek
orcid.org/0000-0002-3253-7326
; Faculty of Political Sciences, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
The text gives an overview of the main characteristics of Nazi propaganda and film industry, and then analyzes the way in which the Leni Riefenstahl's film "Triumph of the Will" presents the congress party of "National Socialist German Workers' Party" held in Nurnberg in 1934.
The movie appeared to be promoting two basic values of the national socialist ideology: the idea of a unified "national community" and the "leader principle". It has been pointed out that the Nazi propaganda was based on Hitler's interpretation of mass psychology and practical settings of Goebbels. In order to make the propaganda efficient the entire German film industry was under the control of the political party. Its main task was to deepen the faith into Hitler as an unquestionable leader, to create a common ethos of the national community and in this way legitimize the leading totalitarian regime. In the purpose of legitimizing the regime in the Triumph of the Will, in the manner of Bele Balaz's film theory, Leni Riefenstahl used an especially valuable setting method. She achieved for the film cameras to follow the action with the eyes of spectators, so that everything that appears in the film turns into the incarnation of spectators' emotions. This created a convincing atmosphere in which the Nazi view of reality through a film method replaced the reality with a pseudo religious ritual of expressing faith in the line: leader, party, nation, which was exactly the main characteristic and purpose of the Nazi propaganda.
Keywords
nazism; political film; propaganda; Leni Riefenstahl
Hrčak ID:
291354
URI
Publication date:
1.2.2009.
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