{"id":13050,"date":"2016-02-05T00:21:57","date_gmt":"2016-02-05T05:21:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=13050"},"modified":"2016-02-05T00:21:57","modified_gmt":"2016-02-05T05:21:57","slug":"film-victory-of-the-faith-der-sieg-der-glaubens-1933","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=13050","title":{"rendered":"Film: Victory of the Faith \/ Der Sieg der Glaubens (1933)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"VictoryOfTheFaith1933\"Film<\/strong>:\u00a0Good<\/p>\n

Transfer<\/strong>: \u00a0Poor<\/p>\n

Extras<\/strong>:\u00a0n\/a<\/p>\n

Label:\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0Archive.org<\/a><\/p>\n

Region:<\/strong> n\/a<\/p>\n

Released:<\/strong>\u00a0 n\/a<\/p>\n

Genre:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0Documentary \/ Propaganda \/ WWII \/ Third Reich<\/p>\n

Synopsis:<\/strong>\u00a0Leni Riefenstahl’s precursor to “Triumph of the Will” was this shorter synthesis of the Nazi party rallies in Nuremberg, circa 1933.<\/p>\n

Special Features:<\/strong>\u00a0 n\/a<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n

Review:<\/strong><\/p>\n

In 1933, Leni Riefenstahl made the move from dancer, actress, and fiction film director to documentaries, launching her new career as the Third Reich\u2019s premiere propaganda filmmaker with her hour-long chronicle of the fifth NSDAP party rally, held in Nuremberg in 1933.<\/p>\n

Many events of the events \u2013 Adolf Hitler\u2019s arrival, his speech from a hotel, and assorted militia marches through city streets at massive assemblies at the Zeppelin air field \u2013 were recaptured in greater detail and technical finesse in what\u2019s regarded as the ultimate propaganda film, Triumph of the Will <\/strong>(1934), and while Victory of the Faith <\/strong>should\u2019ve been a viewable precursor to its bigger and better remake, it vanished from circulation when, as legend has it, Hitler ordered all copies of the film destroyed, chiefly due to the greater inclusion of Ernst R\u00f6hm<\/a>, Nazi party co-founder and leader of the SA brownshirts.<\/p>\n

R\u00f6hm, the SA, and Hitler\u2019s own faction and loyalists were reportedly involved in a party power struggle, and Hitler wanted to remake himself from a racist street thug to an international statesman, so the best way seemed to arrest and knock off R\u00f6hm, eliminating the competition and consolidating power to one top man. References to R\u00f6hm, in classic totalitarian fashion, were erased, but a copy of the film was made during Riefenstahl\u2019s visit to Britain.<\/p>\n

Discovered after being stored for 60 years, Faith<\/strong> is part curio, part historic document of the regime\u2019s early years as well as glimpse into how Hitler and the Nazi party created a new and improved image for domestic consumption.<\/p>\n

Faith lacks the finesse of Triumph<\/strong>, and it feels like a hastily cobbled production where a suggestion to film the rally was made at the last minute and a compact camera crew was dispatched to Nuremberg to grab whatever they could for a short film. The real interest for cineastes lies in how and where Riefenstahl vastly improved upon the concept of a propaganda film in her next effort, but for WWII historians, it\u2019s the awkward moments and the inclusion of R\u00f6hm and his SA which show a rougher side to their ideological mania.<\/p>\n

The format is pretty much the same \u2013 speeches by party members were also included in Triumph<\/strong> \u2013 but there\u2019s a rawness to the clunky footage which makes Faith<\/strong> a more believable documentary as a snapshot of selectively assembled moments from the rally, where no one looks especially impressive. That\u2019s due in part to the way Riefenstahl presented Hitler in branded headshots, flattering lighting with exquisite cloud backdrops, and moving cameras with matched sync sound from (presumably) line feeds from the sound system.<\/p>\n

In Faith<\/strong>, Hitler\u2019s arrival consists of a plane landing, fast cuts, and he\u2019s off to the parade ride to the hotel; in Triumph<\/strong>, his arrival is preceded by an elaborate montage in which his plane descends from the clouds and delivers its deific cargo with mystery. Faith<\/strong>, however, contains footage of erecting the grandstands where crowds will observe the parade in front of the cathedral. Prior to Hitler\u2019s arrival, there\u2019s the SA troops that enter the city, and Riefenstahl often cuts to little children giving the Sieg Heil<\/a> and bearing little swastika-branded flags. There\u2019s also a train arrival in which the engine is swastika-branded on the bumpers pistons and side panels.<\/p>\n

Riefenstahl does devote time to covering Hitler\u2019s drive through the streets of Nuremberg, but the angles are less favourable, lacking the mystery which milked the sequence to epic length in Triumph<\/strong>, where he was often shot from behind, and seen frequently as a figure in medium or close-ups, with heavy emphasis on his hand in the more compact Sieg Heil salute. There are some POV shots as the camera moves with the officials through the streets, but in Triumph<\/strong> there\u2019s a dedicated set of camera cars, many visible in shots, that show how much of the ride was captured from various angles to allow Riefenstahl to assemble a longer and tightly structured sequence with refined visuals that place\u00a0the audience close to but never on equal footing with the Fuhrer.<\/p>\n

Camera crews were present to capture the pre-Hitler arrival of SA members and assorted officials, but a major contrast in Faith<\/strong> lies in what sometimes resembles behind-the-scenes footage, like cars are shown backing up and officials mingle with party elites such as Goebbels; or the arrival of two dignitaries from Mussolini\u2019s fascist government.<\/p>\n

The often informal nature of the footage \u2013 likely the quality Riefenstahl was stuck with \u2013 shows a less organized machine, especially when officials are seen moving after being told where they should<\/em> be standing versus their precise placement in Triumph<\/strong>; and the cutaways between speeches which, instead of showing approving visages of officials, capture the tedium, boredom, or irritation with the events. Wind also mucks up Hitler\u2019s greasy hair part and he attempts a dignified side-part readjustment, and there\u2019s a moment when he makes it clear to a trumpet player to \u2018knock it off\u2019 so he can step forward and address the Hitler Youth.<\/p>\n

The footage may look crude, but it also reveals small moments where Hitler was clearly getting high off the crowds instead of being an living, breathing icon, and being filmed like an officious live-action version of the Hitler busts that\u2019s adorned stamps and coins of the era.<\/p>\n

The looseness of the footage shot in location as it happened makes the staged cutaways Riefenstahl used near the end more glaring, especially his address to a mix of SS and infantry men. Riefenstahl\u2019s camera tracks right-to-left several times on a specific troop, shot at dusk before they likely retired with the rest of their division.<\/p>\n

Several sequences also contain the Greek God headshots of ideal Aryan men and boys which Riefenstahl would use to punch up the Hitler Youth assembly in Triumph<\/strong>, but there\u2019s also small details\u00a0missing from the latter film: uniformed SS are seen in both films, but Faith<\/strong> has a horn player with a giant skull and crossbones flag dangling below, bearing the oft-seen motto \u201cGermany Awakens.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Sieg Heils aren\u2019t more pronounced in Faith<\/strong>, but they\u2019re more disturbing because Riefenstahl interpolates more medium and deep focus shots of huge\u00a0crowds performing the salute instead of wider shots that reduce the mob to a mass of moving figures and human props \u2013 a visual choice that\u2019s perhaps in line with the \u2018sea of flags\u2019 which architect Albert Speer designed and was captured in a striking (and now famous) telephoto lensed shot in Triumph<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Speer\u2019s architecture is also shown, but it isn\u2019t treated as a striking component of the rally. There\u2019s no \u2018cathedral of light\u2019 nor custom shots that convey epic images via locked camera; much of what was filmed\u00a0is handheld, but Faith <\/strong>does feature footage which shows row upon row of party faithful, neatly packed into wide rows to fill the air field (plus a passing Zeppelin). It\u2019s not as candid nor as revealing as the \u2018behind-the-scenes\u2019 material, but the scope and madness of assembling 200,000 + men and women\u00a0is no less affecting. (It’s also surprising to see a rare shots of women among the Hitler Youth gathering, as Riefenstahl completely omitted female party members from\u00a0Triumph<\/strong>.)<\/p>\n

Hitler\u2019s speeches follow the same structure as in Triumph<\/strong>, babbling on about the leap from a struggling movement to a reality; treating the rally as a celebration of what was impossible a decade before; and recycling keywords of being the \u2018blood of our blood, the flesh of our flesh\u2019 and being the country\u2019s future where class and selfishness remain banished.<\/p>\n

He addresses more or less the same batch of divisions, but Faith<\/strong> features a troop of pilots on the field in place of the motorized division in Triumph<\/strong>. Also present are the same mass-usage of standards featuring the swastika flag, the phrase \u201cGermany Awakens,\u201d and an ornate, gilded frame appropriated from Mussolini\u2019s fascists (which borrowed the design from ornate, wreath- inflected Roman standards). The obsession with flags is equally prominent in Faith<\/strong>, including lowering flags in place of the North American 1 minute of silence tradition; and the SA bigwig barking orders for the men to raise the flags and stand tall, as flags were both visual props and an object that kept each bearer busy during the proceedings. (Trying to keep a flag erect while \u2018party whips\u2019 stood nearby at precise monitoring points ensured no one would dare fall asleep or had a single moment to relax during the down time on the field.)<\/p>\n

Triumph<\/strong> certainly benefits from greater attention and pre-planning to capture optimum audio. The first chunk of Faith <\/strong>features an original score by Herbert Windt (who would also score Triumph<\/strong> and the two-part Olympia<\/strong>) and re-recorded marches for the street parades, which covers sonic deficiencies until someone actually speaks. Hitler\u2019s address in a cathedral (with the swastika draped over a podium) is echoey and the footage is dimly lit, and unlike the recorded sounds of huge cheering masses punched up with drum rolls for the parade and air field sequences, Riefenstahl had to settle for a room full of maybe 10 to 20 voice actors whose bellows and Sieg Heils sound completely canned in the final mix.<\/p>\n

She must have realized that once Hitler wanted to remake the film and make a definitive advert for the party, no cost would be spared, hence the efforts to acquire the best footage and sound, and make sure even silent footage when integrated into the film maintained an even tempo, as material within Faith <\/strong>stems from under-cranked silent cameras which are sped-up in the final edit.<\/p>\n

None of the cited picky details that compare Faith<\/strong> with Triumph<\/strong>\u00a0are meant to diminish the importance of the film \u2013 it is a unique record of the party before an important (and lethal) purge \u2013 but it is a lesser if not different \u2018documentation\u2019 of an annual rally that was self-aggrandizing, ingratiating, and couldn\u2019t have been half as inspirational year after year where masses of ordinary grunts were mere props for an ego maniac and future mass murderer.<\/p>\n

Faith<\/strong> is an important historic artifact than an important cinematic work in Riefenstahl\u2019s canon, and it perhaps indicates the first and last time she would settle for a loosely planned shooting schedule which robbed her of the choices she needed to create something more artful (Olympia<\/strong>) and terrifying (Triumph<\/strong>).<\/p>\n

Although given a home video released on DVD, the film is available for free (in a heavily compressed form) via Archive.org<\/a>. That edit features main titles shot off a screen, and a recurring 2003 copyright A&M bug. It\u2019s also followed by an odd trailer which repurposes outtakes with different (likely stock) soundtrack material and intertitles, making it resemble a silent movie trailer.<\/p>\n

Leni Riefenstahl\u2019s films as director include The Blue Light <\/strong>\/ Das blaue Licht<\/strong> (1932), Victory of the Faith<\/strong> \/ Der Sieg der Glaubens<\/strong> (1933), Triumph of the Will <\/strong>\/ Triumph des Willens<\/strong><\/a> (1935), Day of Freedom<\/strong> \/ Tag der Freiheit<\/strong><\/a> (1935), Olympia<\/strong> Parts One and Two (1938), Tiefland<\/strong> (1954), and Underwater Impressions<\/strong> \/ Impressionen unter Wasser<\/strong> (2002).<\/p>\n

She was also profiled in Ray Ray M\u00fcller\u2019s brilliant The Wonderful, Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl<\/strong> \/ Die Macht der Bilder: Leni Riefenstahl<\/strong> (1993) which also includes images from her stills and filming of the African Nuba tribe (later documented in book form) and her work as perhaps the world\u2019s only octogenarian underwater cinematographer.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a9 2015 Mark R. Hasan<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

External References:<\/strong>
\nEditor’s Blog<\/a> — IMDB<\/a> \u00a0— \u00a0Composer Filmography<\/a>
\n\u00a0<\/span>
\nVendor Search Links:<\/strong>
\nAmazon.ca<\/a>\"\" \"\" —\u00a0<\/span> Amazon.com<\/a>\"\" \"\" —\u00a0<\/span> Amazon.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In 1933, Leni Riefenstahl made the move from dancer, actress, and fiction film director to documentaries, launching her new career as the Third Reich\u2019s premiere propaganda filmmaker with her hour-long chronicle of the fifth NSDAP party rally, held in Nuremberg in 1933…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[18],"tags":[4224,4221,4223,4222,381,4225,4220],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8nuyW-3ou","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13050"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13050"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13050\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13074,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13050\/revisions\/13074"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13050"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13050"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13050"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}