Triumph Of The Will Susan Sontag Comparison

Triumph of the Will, has been perceived as one of the most remarkable works of art in film history. It is a documentary produced by Leni Riefenstahl, a renowned film maker, who “has remained the focus of critical attention since the 1930’s” (Sontag, 1976p. 31). Triumph of the Will, is a documentary created to follow Hitler and his supporters through the Nazi Nuremberg Rally of the 1930’s. In the study of Holocaust and films, it is crucial to uncover hidden messages portrayed through films by analyzing the structure, editing and styles perpetuated throughout. The analysis of this film will reveal the reality and true meanings of the film, to conclude if the film is a documentary or a propagandistic film that was created to spread information and a specific message to people for a particular benefit. This paper will seek to analyze the propagandistic features of this film by comparing and contrasting the claims of both Susan Sontag and filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl. In order to understand the perspectives of both, Triumph of
She has affirmed that Leni Riefenstahl’s work is aesthetically pleasing, however, the film is a fascist propaganda film that is built upon the political ideologies of Hitler. She explains that Riefenstahl is an “…apolitical artist whose work was used by others for political means” (Sontag, 1976p. 35). She is stating that Hitler ultimately sought out Riefenstahl and commissioned the making of this film to convey his own message. The film stars Hitler and he is also a producer, thus, propaganda is perpetuated throughout the entirety of the film. Riefenstahl received an unlimited budget and was given a large financial budget to produce the film and this is how she was able to get into close proximity of the leader (Sontag, 1976p. 35). However, she must’ve known that this reality was being constructed to serve a certain