Riefenstahl’s role as a director working for the Nazi regime, allowed the Nazi Party and ideology to have influence over the German people, having their attitudes and beliefs shaped to support the Nazi party. ‘Triumph of the Will’ is an example of this, a film that contains powerful images that are greatly effective which visually glorifies the Nazi Party. An example of these powerful images includes where Hitler is portrayed as a god, descending from the clouds, emphasising his power and significance [5]. Continuously, the filming techniques and editing by Riefenstahl portray the party as a power that can create a Germany that is strong, unified, a Germany the people desire, hence their support for the Party. The result of Riefenstahl’s ‘art’, …show more content…
Her techniques and strategies have been studied and analysed, creating a new perspective in the film industry as well as the development of new propaganda throughout the war. One of these impacts occurred in 1942, when the British made a short propaganda film, ‘Lambeth Walk – Nazi Style’, which edited ‘Triumph of the Will’, presenting the Nazis as if they were dancing to the song ‘The Lambeth Walk’. Riefenstahl’s rally films glorified Nazism, she was able to inflict fear into the heart of other nations which in turn caused them to distribute anti-Nazi propaganda, thus affecting WW2 greatly. Entertainment was also affected, an example being Charlie Chaplin's, ‘The Great Dictator’, largely inspired by Triumph of the Will. Today in the 21st century, Riefenstahl’s films have been studied by many artists, including film directors Peter Jackson, George Lucas and Ridley Scott [7], which would influence many of their movies and the ways they are produced. Her actions had and have affected the film industry we know today, whilst influencing the creation of new, enhanced forms of …show more content…
Although supported by Hitler, Riefenstahl was disliked by many other key figures in Nazi Germany, most specifically Joseph Goebbels. Her position made others uncomfortable and jealous. In one instance, as described by Riefenstahl, he had presumably screamed at her ‘If you were a man and not a woman, I’d throw you down stairs. You’re a dangerous woman [3]. Riefenstahl however, still pursued her career and held her position. Her commitment and resilience to matters as these, is what many individuals strive to do today. Riefenstahl’s role as a woman, has impacted feminism today as she has been used today as an example, a person who dominated a male-run industry and resisted male ‘hate’ comments. Whilst some women appear to dislike Riefenstahl. At a women’s film festival in Chicago, Riefenstahl had been invited as a speaker, yet the invitation was withdrawn when members of the Chicago women’s movement threatened to picket her [4]. Riefenstahl has clearly created a controversy from her actions, creating a division that impacts society greatly. This has also occurred in film culture where she is praised for her works, not as a Nazi, but as a director. A film festival in Colorado is evidence of this, a festival organised by film-culture people who were going to play one of her films to appreciate her ‘art’ [1] yet was protested by the Jewish
In the years between 1933 and 1945, Germany was engulfed by the rise of a powerful new regime and the eventual spoils of war. During this period, Hitler's quest for racial purification turned Germany not only at odds with itself, but with the rest of the world. Photography as an art and as a business became a regulated and potent force in the fight for Aryan domination, Nazi influence, and anti-Semitism. Whether such images were used to promote Nazi ideology, document the Holocaust, or scare Germany's citizens into accepting their own changing country, the effect of this photography provides enormous insight into the true stories and lives of the people most affected by Hitler's racism. In fact, this photography has become so widespread in our understanding and teaching of the Holocaust that often other factors involved in the Nazi's racial policy have been undervalued in our history textbooks-especially the attempt by Nazi Germany to establish the Nordic Aryans as a master race through the Lebensborn experiment, a breeding and adoption program designed to eliminate racial imperfections.
On Hitler’s Mountain is a memoir of a child named Irmgard Hunt and her experiences growing up in Nazi Germany. She herself has had many experiences of living during that dark time, she actually met Hitler, had a grandfather who hated Hitler's rule, and had no thoughts or feelings about the Nazi rule until the end of WWII. Her memoir is a reminder of what can happen when an ordinary society chooses a cult of personality over rational thought. What has happened to the German people since then, what are they doing about it today and how do they feel about their past? Several decades later, with most Nazis now dead or in hiding, and despite how much Germany has done to prevent another Nazi rule, everyone is still ashamed of their ancestors’ pasts.
Kracauer, Siegfried. From Caligari to Hitler: A Psychological History of the German Film. Princeton University Press: Princeton and Oxford, 2004.
...trates how easily the Germans were manipulated and persuaded into supporting Hitler’s ideology about Germany and its manifest destiny through the use of many fictional characters.
Leni Riefenstahl, a dazzling individual that has lived through and experienced many things that no other person may have. She has lived through the World War One, Great Depression, Nazi Germany, World War Two, the Cold war and September 11. However, what fascinates historians and people all over was her involvement and relationship with Hitler and the Nazis party. This report will look over Leni’s early to role as director of her Infamous films Triumph of the Will and Olympia and her involvement and view of Nazism and Hitler.
men in any way. “Once some SS men pushed our sound van into a ditch;
Revolutionary forms of art have dominated much of Germany, apparently as a reaction to the First World War. The era in which the First World War took place – throughout the 1910s, featured artists coming together against what they think the pointless aggression said major conflict brought. German artists, in particular, protested against the social structures prevalent during the 1910s, within which the social structures of the Second Reich were prevalent. German society initially saw film, in particular, as quite an inelegant alternative to the bourgeoisie-associated theater. Such is due to the inability of the domestic film industry in Germany to develop films due to two reasons – the mass importation of foreign films from other nations with more advanced film industries and the consequent notion that films are associated with the lower classes (Kellner 3-39). Such impressions, however, changed with the rise of German expressionist film, with the seminal example being The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari by Robert Wiene.
Despite the fact that the character of Phyllis as the “tough as nails” perpetual, intentional aggressor is a valid attempt to obliterate the image of women as the oppressed, one interpretation of this role is that she ultimately seems to misrepresent herself, and females in cinema, anyway. Janet Todd, author of Women and Film, states that, “Women do not exist in American film. Instead we find another creation, made by men, growing out of their ideological imperatives”(130). Though these “power girl”characters are strong examples of anything but submissive and sexual females,the...
In 1939, Charlie Chaplin was a world famous movie star who released a movie that would be very controversial, The Great Dictator. The movie was meant to ridicule Hitler, as at that time he was at the height of his power. At the end of the movie, Chaplin delivers a speech as a Jewish barber mistaken for Chaplin’s Hitler- like dictator. Chaplin uses speech rhetoric to convey Chaplin's message of hope and light. The film did very well in the theaters and was Chaplin's most successful movie. The speech in the film, The Great Dictator, used it's influential place in society with cinema to convey a message of peace, hope, and independence.
Fyne, Robert. The Hollywood propaganda of World War II. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1994. Print.
leni Riefenstahl’s work in Olympia was compelling and very interesting to hear about her story. After seeing the movie and watching the documentary about her and her life I find it all very fascinating. First off, I thought it was such juxtaposition that a woman directed the first sports documentary. I find this funny because the sports industry today is such a man’s business. To have a woman be the person to pave the way for sports broadcasting is amazing. Next her story about her start with the Nazis is also very interesting and I loved that she always defended her work. She said how she felt and stood to her beliefs. She didn’t apologize of cave because she felt what she did wasn’t harming anyone. To me personally after watching this movie
Society tends to associate propaganda films with issues such as Nazi Germany and their film messages for their country; however, it is also possible for small independent companies, groups of like-minded people and individuals to use the media of film to incorporate messages for our society (The Independent, 2010). These messages are often in relation to changes that individuals should make in order to improve the standards by which they live their lives and changes to everyday habits that will benefit the individual, the individual’s family, a group of individuals or even a single person (Barnhisel and Turner, 2010).
The main purpose of the book was to emphasize how far fear of Hitler’s power, motivation to create a powerful Germany, and loyalty to the cause took Germany during the Third Reich. During the Third Reich, Germany was able to successfully conquer all of Eastern Europe and many parts of Western Europe, mainly by incentive. Because of the peoples’ desires and aspirations to succeed, civilians and soldiers alike were equally willing to sacrifice luxuries and accept harsh realities for the fate of their country. Without that driving force, the Germans would have given up on Hitler and Nazism, believing their plan of a powerful Germany...
"Hitler Comes to Power." . United States Holocaust Memorial Museum . Web. 11 Dec 2013. .
A film bursting with visual and emotional stimuli, the in-depth character transformation of Oscar Schindler in Schindler’s List is a beautiful focal point of the film. Riddled with internal conflict and ethical despair, Schindler challenges his Nazi Party laws when he is faced with continuing his ambitious business ideas or throwing it all away for the lives of those he once saw as solely cheap labor. Confronted with leading a double life and hiding his motivations from those allegiant to Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party, Schindler undergoes numerous ethical dilemmas that ultimately shape his identity and challenge his humanity. As a descendent of a Jewish-American, Yiddish speaking World War II soldier who helped liberate concentration camps in Poland, this film allowed for an enhanced personal