The victory of faith

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Movie
Original title The victory of faith
Country of production German Empire
original language German
Publishing year 1933
length 64 minutes
Rod
Director Leni Riefenstahl
script Leni Riefenstahl
production Leni Riefenstahl
music Herbert Windt
camera Sepp Allgeier ,
Walter Frentz ,
Richard Quaas ,
Paul Tesch ,
Franz Weihmayr
cut Leni Riefenstahl
occupation

Joseph Goebbels ,
Hermann Göring ,
Rudolf Heß ,
Heinrich Himmler ,
Adolf Hitler ,
Robert Ley ,
Willy Liebel ,
August Wilhelm von Prussia ,
Ernst Röhm ,
Albert Speer ,
Margarete Speer ,
Julius Streicher ,
Franz von Epp ,
Franz von Papen ,
Baldur von Schirach

The Victory of Faith is a Nazi propaganda film by Leni Riefenstahl about the fifth Reich Party Congress of the NSDAP from August 30 to September 3, 1933 in Nuremberg . It was the first after the seizure of power , so it was called the "Victory Party Congress". The film was Riefenstahl's first documentary.

The premiere of the film took place on December 1, 1933 in Berlin's Ufa-Palast am Zoo . As a result of the Röhm putsch , the film was withdrawn from circulation after a short time, as Ernst Röhm could still be seen here alongside Adolf Hitler . The film was considered lost for a long time , and a copy of the work did not reappear until 1986. The 64-minute film was edited by Riefenstahl from 16,000 meters of raw material. It is the first part of Riefenstahl's party congress trilogy , the other parts from Triumph des Willis and Tag der Freiheit! - Our armed forces exist.

The director Leni Riefenstahl

Leni Riefenstahl was personally asked by Adolf Hitler to make a film about the Nazi party rally in 1933. Hitler favored Riefenstahl because of her artistic talent. The film should not be a sober representation of what happened, but a propagandistic staging that aims at the emotions of the viewer. The propaganda film, presented as a reportage film, was less intended to inform, but rather to inspire and impress, which brought Hitler and Riefenstahl's ideas very close.

Contact with Leni Riefenstahl was intensified on May 17, 1933 by Hitler's Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels . In his diary it says: “Aft. Leni Riefenstahl. She tells me about her plans. I make her the suggestion of a Hitler film. She is enthusiastic about it. ”Hitler was also very impressed by Riefenstahl. To engage her for this project, however, met with displeasure within the party , as she had no experience in the field of documentary film and was also not a member of the NSDAP. There was a conflict between Leni Riefenstahl and Arnold Raether , who had made films for the NSDAP before 1933. The joint project by Riefenstahl and Raether envisaged by the party developed into a power struggle between the two directors, which turned out in Riefenstahl's favor.

content

Shooting began on August 27, 1933 with Sepp Allgeier as the first cameraman and ended on September 5, 1933. Riefenstahl did not follow a chronological order, as was typical for a documentary film at the time, but instead created a simple but effective dramaturgy .

To do this, she divided the film into eight thematic blocks:

  1. Nuremberg the morning before the party congress
  2. Arrival of Hitler at the airport
  3. Reception in the town hall
  4. Opening of the party congress in the Luitpold-Halle
  5. Appeal of the magistrates on the zeppelin field
  6. Rally of the Hitler Youth in the stadium
  7. Parade of the party branches on the market square - Hitler and Röhm in an open car
  8. Honoring the dead, roll call from SA , SS and steel helmet

With The Victory of Faith Riefenstahl created a new kind of documentary film. In contrast to well-known documentaries, the then 31-year-old has developed her own style that aimed to exaggerate the events. This depiction of grandiosity becomes clear, for example, in the sixth thematic block of the film, when the Graf Zeppelin airship floats majestically through the picture. In collaboration with the cameraman Sepp Allgeier, she tried out previously unknown perspectives and techniques. Due to her proximity to Hitler, Riefenstahl enjoyed exceptional privileges that enabled her to take close-up photos of the “Führer”. In addition, Hitler was filmed not only during his speeches, but also aside from conversations with party leaders or while watching the parade. These recordings gave an impression of the private, so to speak.

When assembling the film, Riefenstahl tried to design the transitions as skilfully as possible, so that a dramatic rhythm was created in the images shown. Another special feature compared to the well-known documentary was the lack of a spoken voiceover . Only the original sound of the party conference could be heard in the film. The victory of faith was also accompanied by the film music by Herbert Windt , who mixed Wagner sounds with party anthems. The aim of the event was the self-portrayal of the NSDAP, which should not only be visible to the audience in Nuremberg, but also to the population throughout the German Reich through the film . By the mass enthusiasm that Riefenstahl always particularly emphasized in the film, was Victory of Faith greatly National Socialist propaganda at.

effect

In Riefenstahl's view, The Victory of Faith is an imperfect piece of work, a modest film, as she always emphasized. Compared to Triumph des Willens , Hitler is much less portrayed as a charismatic leader in the first part of the party congress trilogy. The film shows that the Nazis' power development was not yet complete at this point. Hitler is not yet the sole leader, but often seen together with other party leaders such as Rudolf Hess and Ernst Röhm . Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels summarized the impact of the work as follows: "It documents the transition from the party to the state" (Kinkel 2002, 59). In addition, the film contains some unsuccessful shots (shaky, blurred images). Contemporary German critics saw the work as a successful propaganda film.

The victory of faith was the first film portrayal aimed at the entire German population. At the time, the press pointed out that it was a matter of course for every citizen of the German Reich to watch the film. To make this possible, it was often offered at reduced prices or even for free. Entire school classes were shown to the cinemas as a group, so that young people were already confronted with the propaganda work. In addition, Goebbels issued an ordinance on December 2, 1933, which forbade the holding of party events that could temporally clash with the screenings of The Victory of Faith . An estimated 20 million citizens of the German Reich saw the first film in the party congress trilogy. Riefenstahl rose to the most important film propagandist of the Third Reich through The Victory of Faith .

After the "Röhm Putsch"

Only a little later, after the so-called " Night of the Long Knives " (June 30 / July 1, 1934), Röhm and other functionaries of the SA leadership who had been summoned at Tegernsee on Hitler's instructions were arrested and - in some cases on the same night - murdered. In this film, too, Hitler was not yet portrayed as a personified center of power, but still shared it with the supreme leader of the Sturmabteilung - who shortly afterwards defied him. This was one of the reasons why the film was withdrawn from circulation a year later. From now on, only Hitler should generally be the focus.

In retrospect, Victory of Faith looks like the dress rehearsal for Riefenstahl's Triumph of Will (1935) . Therein, however, it is probably calculated, without a highly problematic opening credits to the history of the NSDAP and thus inevitably Röhm with his SA, entered the film scene directly.

For a long time, the film was considered non-existent because the copies were supposedly destroyed by the NSDAP on Hitler's orders.

See also

literature

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