Jarett Lopez
HIS 413-001
Spring 2018
Question Responses
1. When filming, and producing, Triumph of the Will, Leni Riefenstahl took great care in assuring that the camera angles were as wide as possible. The opening shot of the movie sets that tone, with the plane descending into Germany, with wide shots of the countryside as it makes its descent. These wide angles are mostly maintained throughout the film, as if the party were trying to convey its immensity to the German people, and to the world. The shot seems to focus in on those involved only when Hitler or one of the ancillary members of leadership are shown or are speaking. Sweeping shots of the scenery in Germany are common place.
It rarely focuses in on a single person …show more content…
Partisan elites are trotted out to give uplifting messages about the party. Party conventions serve to bolster the inner party morale and perhaps affect the general opinion of those on the outside looking in. The Germany stands strong message serves both to project power to non-partisans both within and outside of the state. It has the more profound point to bolster the strength of Hitler as the Führer of the NSDAP. The Führerprinzip is based around a strong central leader. Partisan weakness reduces the image of the Führer and thusly reduces the stability of the party. This Party Congress came a year after a massive cleansing of the ranks, the Night of Long Knives, so it was necessary for Hitler to reestablish himself and the stability of the party. It could have just as easily been an American Political Party coalescing their partisans around their Presidential nominee following a divisive primary.
This unremarkable nature as a party congress/convention could not have been conveyed without seeing it. A description of the congress would most likely play up the Nazi elements itself, missing the functional forest through the ideological