Triumph of the Will (Blu-ray)

For almost a century, Leni Riefenstahl’s Triumph of the Will (Triumph des Willens) has reigned as the most controversial documentary ever made, a “cinema masterpiece,” according to film historian Amos Vogel, “a huge and disturbing film spectacle.” Capturing the pageantry of the 1934 Nuremberg congress, Triumph of the Will is a sensory tableau that celebrates the nation’s resurgence in the aftermath of a crushing economic depression. Riefenstahl commanded a squad of photographers and oversaw the editing of the film, crafting a landmark of documentary cinema, even as it permanently stained the reputation of the filmmaker. Riefenstahl spent a lifetime trying to disassociate herself from the Nazi leadership, but her complicity with Hitler is now uniquivocal, and no matter how artistically rendered, Triumph of the Will was used to fertilize the rise of the Third Reich. This Kino Classics release is part of an ambitious reevaluation of the filmmaker’s career, including the release of Andres Veiel’s award-winning documentary Riefenstahl, new restorations of her films (The Blue Light, Tiefland) and special editions of previously unreleased work (Longing for Innocence, Under Water Impressions). Triumph of the Will was restored by the Bundesarchiv (German Federal Archives) and includes two additional Riefenstahl propaganda films glorifying the military strength of the National Socialist German Workers’ Party: Day of Freedom and Victory of Faith.