Artful documentary shows bias of director Riefenstahl

  Emilia Hwang Hwang is just as biased as
the next journalist. E-mail her your partisan thoughts at [email protected].

Contrary to popular belief, documentary film is not an objective
art.

Recently released on DVD, Leni Riefenstahl’s
“Triumph of the Will” is a film that documents the
Third Reich’s Party Congress at Nuremberg in 1934.

Originally released during the height of the Nazi regime,
Riefenstahl’s propaganda film is legendary ““ for both
its morally reprehensible theme as well as its technically
commendable construction.

Though “Triumph” doesn’t explicitly promote
the act of genocide, it consciously advances racial purity and the
Holocaust.

Riefenstahl’s gift as a filmmaker, nevertheless, is
undeniable. “Triumph’s” exquisite editing and
outstanding photography reflect her extraordinary talent.

Furthermore, the film’s magnificent form reflected in its
artistic structure and rhythm confirm Riefenstahl’s control
over her art.

The authority she wields from behind the camera is transferred
onto the screen, making an impact that far exceeds the film’s
technical brilliance.

Riefenstahl saw Hitler as a symbol of victory and peace under
one Reich. Thus, her film glorifies him as a savior figure that
would unite Germany and rescue the nation from economic
depression.

The film’s effectiveness at indoctrination and distortion
is the natural outcome of the editing of reality performed in order
to meet the propaganda needs of the Nazi regime.

In order to fully grasp Riefenstahl’s power as a
documentarian, it is important to examine who is excluded from her
film.

Directed by Alain Resnais, the film “Night and Fog”
documents the same historical period as “Triumph.”
However, while Hitler was parading through Nuremberg in the former,
innocent people were journeying to death camps in the latter.

Filmed in 1955 at the post-war site of Auschwitz,
“Night” tells the story of man’s brutal
inhumanity.

While “Triumph” captures young German soldiers
playfully partaking in a shower, shave and haircut,
“Night” reveals disembodied figures, hopelessly getting
shaved, tattooed and numbered.

While one film attempts to echo the highest ideals of National
Socialism in references to history, duty and honor, the other
simulates the horrors of mass extermination by personifying hunger,
persecution and fear.

Riefenstahl made calculated decisions when documenting Nazi
Germany that intensified the propaganda mechanisms that were
already set in motion by Hitler’s regime.

She filmed boys preparing to join the army ranks, effortlessly
repeating Nazi propaganda like a dogmatic catechism. She did not
film the emaciated bodies reporting for roll call day after day at
gallows used as blocks for executions.

By making a conscious effort to exclude certain groups from her
film, Riefenstahl is able to write people out of existence.

Commissioned by Hitler, Riefenstahl’s work intentionally
advanced Nazi ideology by systematically imposing a political
doctrine on its viewers.

Riefenstahl knew that contemporary audiences did not want to see
a well-structured Germany thriving at the expense of millions of
innocent lives.

Her complicity with the Nazi regime is manifest in her selective
editing which conveyed the spectacle of Hitler’s reign,
without a single allusion to its depravity or inhumanity.

The discontentment and vulnerability of Germany at the time of
“Triumph’s” release amplified the exploitative
power of the work.

The film’s theme of rebirth gave Germans a romantic sense
of pageantry that celebrated the rising nation. Through shots of
highly regulated armies marching perfectly in sync, Riefenstahl
gave audiences the impression of a well-ordered nation.

“Triumph” is one of the most dangerous propaganda
films ever made because it does not tell viewers what they should
believe in, but rather seduces them into acceptance.

By glorifying the submission of individual will, her artwork
spoke to viewers on a level that transcended the scope of analytic
tools.

The impact of her film is clearly emotional, not rational.
Riefenstahl appeals to people’s herd-animal instincts by
feeding their desire to be members of a large group.

Grandiose shots of mobs of people transfixed by the words of
Hitler translated into unity and strength, while impressing viewers
with a sense of structure and security.

Hitler’s rallying speeches in the film enticed thousands
of young Germans to join the Nazi ranks. Additionally, by speaking
about national victory and glory, Hitler lured the people watching
the film into wanting to be a part of the future of Germany.

Like Nazi soldiers, Riefenstahl can argue that she was just
doing her job. Though not directly responsible for millions of
deaths, Riefenstahl’s film not only glorified the Nazi
plague, but also spread its sinister ideology like a contagious
disease.

As an artist and a human being, Riefenstahl is obligated to
recognize the serious potential her work carries for political and
moral persuasion. The impact of her film was indeed significant in
securing people’s acceptance, and even approval of the Nazi
machinery set in place for genocide.

As an artist, Riefenstahl recognized the persuasive power of art
to be just as effective, if not more effective, than simple tools
of logic. In omitting the horrors of the Holocaust from her
documentary, Riefenstahl effectively wrote many people out of
history, as well as the human race.

Through a deliberately selective editing of history, the
film’s impact was a significant force in expediting the death
of millions of innocent people.

While Riefenstahl did not directly execute the Holocaust, she
consciously made decisions while filming and editing that
demonstrate her willingness to promote Nazi atrocities.

Since art intentionally mirrors the artist’s view of the
world, “Triumph” represents a morally reprehensible
view that clearly illustrates Riefenstahl’s willingness to be
a tool of the Nazi regime.

By conveying a point of view with an aura of objectivity,
documentaries are just as biased as the people who produce
them.