Triumph of the Will is quite possibly the single most well know piece of Nazi propaganda in existence. It depicts the 1934 National Socialist Party rally in Nuremburg.

From a technical standpoint, this film is a masterpiece. 30 cameras, 120 technicians, day shots, night shots, audible outdoor sound... and all of this in 1934 (the film then took six months to develop and edit before being released in 1935). The director, a woman by the name of Leni Riefenstahl, was actually given carte blanche by Hitler himself to produce this movie, and as a result she was able to have lighting gantries, camera track, and even entire bridges built throughout Nuremburg solely to aid in the production of the film. Seeing as there could be no retakes, much care was taken in advance towards getting the shots correct. Multiple cameras and roughly 65 hours of film were used over a period of three days in order to have the greatest possible chance of nabbing that "perfect shot". The 65 hours of film were later edited down to a mere 2 hours for the final version. From a visual standpoint, it isn't very far off from the studio-filmed Hollywood movies of the time. A rather impressive feat, considering that it was filmed outside on location in what was essentially one take. Now, I would be lying if I told you that the event was not rehearsed multiple times beforehand. The Rally was essentially the first "made for film" event and Hitler himself was adamant that everything be perfect for the film.

Now content is another matter entirely. This film is astoundingly dull to the modern viewer. It's two hours of Hitler (and the occasional other party leader) making speeches and people marching to music. Even though Hitler was very... passionate... when he spoke, it still doesn't make for an exciting film. But that isn't what it was going for anyway. Its sole purpose was to demonstrate the might of the National Socialist Party and spread its message to the German people, and it does that rather well.

So, do I recommend that you watch it? Absolutely.

Do I advocate its message? Not at all.

So why do I recommend it then? Because improper understanding of the past will only lead to the repetition of its mistakes in the future.