Friday, April 1, 2011

PERIOD 7 - Triumph of The Will

Please post your thoughts about the film Triumph of The Will. Answer the following questions: 1.)What would you consider to be the most important message of the film? 2.) The director of the film tried to portray Germany's return as a gret power. Do you think she was successful? 3.) What is the image of Hitler in the film? Make sure to comment on one other student's post.

38 comments:

Nick Farrar said...

The Triumph of the Will was a propaganda film used during Hitlers reign in Germany. It tried to portray how perfect Germany is and how great of a leader Hitler was. It tried to get viewers to share the same hatred of the Jews. I was frustrated watching this film because Hitler was such a hypocrite. He wanted this perfect Aryian race but he himself did not fit into that category. He also found ways to just hate the Jewish people. Hitler was probably the best at what he did but his means of doing it were hypocritical and wrong.

Kevin Ruhl said...

The propaganda film "Triumph of The Will" was a very interesting film i thought. I always questioned how so many people could get behind and support such a cruel human being as Adolf Hitler. This film showed how the Nazi Party came to power, and how they gained support throughout the country. I understand why the German population might support Hitler and his Nazis, with their abundance of promises of things like jobs, and Germany regaining its tarnished reputation.

Kevin Ruhl said...

I agree with Nick in that the film tried to make it seem like the Germans were doing nothing wrong, that the Jews had brought the hatred upon themselves. I also think that he made a good point in saying that Hitler was a hypocrit, not even fitting into the category of what he called the "ideal German".

NIck Farrar said...

I agree with Kevin. I had the same question on Hitler and his followers. I could never understand why people would ever follow someone like Hitler but after watching the movie I have a better understanding of why people would follow him.

Matt Rouleau said...

The important message of this film how Triumph of the Will was a propaganda film. Yes i do think that she really did show hilter power and also showed that he had alot of control of the germany people. The Hitler image was that he want all Jewish people dead. I agree with Nick and Kevin about how the Germany always made it seem that they did not do anything wrong. I got a better understanding for why people followed Hilter

Kelsey Beron said...

I agree with Nick’s thoughts that Hitler was a hypocrite, as they described the “perfect” or “ideal” individual I realized that Hitler fit the some of the stereotypes that they put on the Jewish people. Such as laziness and also his physical description is the opposite of what he decided was ideal.

Kelsey Beron said...

I thought that the movie triumph of the will was very educational and showed a different side of the Nazi’s that I have yet to see. And I also thought it was interesting to see a documentary on the “optimistic side” of the Nazi’s or one that depicts them in a positive light. Also I thought they way the movie was filmed was interesting and grabbed the attention of the viewers.

Dan Arnold said...

The film was a German propaganda film trying to influence the German people that Hitler was on his way of transforming Germany back to its pure state. I think that the best use of propaganda used in the film by the directer was the fact that she only filmed the peole who had smiles and happy cheerful faces on. The Butler youth camps were made to look like it was all fun and games when really the children of Germany were being brainwashed and fought to hate the jews and other minoritys so that the nazis we be able to use them to carry out the horrific acts that were orders during WWII. Hitler was made to look like the hero and rebuilder of Germany when he really was destroying it.

Antony Macario said...

This film help us to see how powerfull the speaches of Hiitler were. How much power he had over everyone and everything. He did anything that he wanted to do no matter who was against him.

Dan Arnold said...

I have to agree with Nick Kevin and Kelseys comments on Hitler being a hypocrite because he wanted to restore Germany to its pure state with the aryan race being on top. Hitler had dark hair and brown eyes and if that's not enough he said Germany is for the Germans...Hitler was Austrian..
Nuff said..

Emily Hite said...

I feel as if there are a lot of significant messages to get from this film, but one of the most would be the understanding of Adolf Hitler as a leader. In this film, we got to experience what it was like to see him in real life. I can now comprehend why the people of Germany thought he was such a fantastic man. He did portray many positive qualities that a leader should have. The directer didn't show Germany's return as a great power. Rather, it showed the Nazis turning into a great power. Hitler was shown, which Mr. Gallagher mentioned once while we watched it, as a "god". The film wanted ad achieved to depict the man as something that could do no wrong and could fix what Germany had become.

Emily Hite said...

Dan makes a great point about the director's use of propaganda. It was interesting to see the specific people she used to portray a German.

Jake Phillips said...

THe film portrayed the greatness of Hitler, and was successful in making Germany look strong. Hitler appears as a infallable deity with calculated and brilliant decisions.

jake p said...

Kevin probes at the idea which is that he understands how the Nazis were able to do what they were, and after that film I could very well see a nation of modern day being swept up if the right conditions are present.

Megan Sullivan said...

The Triumoh of the Will was a propaganda film used to portray Hitler in Nazi Germany. This film showed how the Germans thought themselves to be so much better than everyone else. I have to agree with Nick when he states that Hitler was a hypocrite. How can one claim that blonde hair and blue eyes makes you better than everyone else?

Will Kenyon said...

I was absent for this film.

Amanda Hutchinson said...

I thought that Triumph of The Will was a very interesting movie. I think the most important message of the film is that someone such as Adolf Hitler can take over an entire nation and brain wash them into thinking that they are superior to others. I think it shows that this could happen to just about any group of people. I think the director was successful in portraying Germany’s return to a great power because throughout the film everyone looked extremely happy and lively; she never showed a group of people or a person who did not look excited about Germany or Hitler. In this film Hitler is portrayed as a god, everyone seems to worship him and see him as a great powerful leader that will lead them to a better world. I think that Nick brought up a good point when he said that Hitler was a hypocrite. I believe that’s true. Hitler and other Germans had the idea of the ‘ideal’ race, blonde haired and blue eyed, while neither Hitler nor his successors looked such a way.

Brenda Komari said...

The Triumph of the Will was extremely effective propaganda. The camera angles and staged scenes really made the German people believe this was the group to be a part of. It also protrayed the effect Hitler had on the people of Germany through his speeches and how he was able to make them believe there was hope if they joined the Nazi party.

Brenda Komari said...

I agree with what Nick said about how it was ironic that Hitler described the superior race with characteristics he didn't have and many Germans didn't have. In the film, there were many staged scenes with blonde little boys and girls however, almost all the Nazi party members had dark hair.

Rachel Bridge said...

I thought that the Triumph of the Will was a disturbing propaganda film. The deceit and manipulation that was used in the movie in order to present Germany as a superior, perfect nation was apalling to me. However, what upset me the most was the fact that this film of lies was able to convince so many Germans to hate the Jews. It made me realize how powerful and influential the media can be in shaping the opinions and mentalities of people.

Rachel Bridge said...

I think Nick brings up a very important and interesting point. Hitler himself did not fit into the ideal race, the "Aryian Nation". Despite this, the entire Nazi regime and the majority of Germany supported him and idolized him. This shows how powerful Hitler was in the sense that he could exempt himself from his own prejudices and convince an entire nation to do the same.

Meg Burke said...

I though Emily made a good point to mention that Hitler was portrayed as a god. It was as if he was on a pedestal and everyone wanted to be as good as him and therefor went along with what he was saying and telling them.

efaherty said...

Jake makes a good point when he said that he could now understand how the nation got swept up into such an absurd political party. Also I agree that like Jake said, if the conditions are right then parties like the Nazis are allowed to prosper, especially with propaganda films such as this one.

efaherty said...

I think that this film emphasized the message that the Nazi party was a powerful party that was helping to change Germany for the better. Like many propaganda films, the film "Triumph of the Will", was quite decieving. I think the director was successful at protraying Germany as a great power through all of the large and enthusiastic rallies. These rallies also helped to depict Hitler as an extremely popular, emphatic, and innovational speaker who appealed to the public greatly.

Amanda Borglund said...

I was very confused when I started watching this, since I did not get to see the beginning. I realized it was a bunch of propaganda, which i thought was very wrong. but it also made me think. How did Hitler come up with the Aryan race, and how bad of a person really was he? I believe that everyone was born good, so how did he become a dictator? and was he just doing what he thought was right, or did he just want people to suffer? I agree with Nick in that Hitler was hypocritical since he wasn't blue eyed or blonde.

Sarah Van said...

The film "The Triumph of Will" was used to promote Hitler's reign. In this film, it potrayed how Hilter and the Nazi party operated. I was frustrated watching yhis film because Hitler, along with many of his followers, thought they weren't doing anything wrong by eliminating Jews. I agree with Nick. I think thastt Hitler was very hypocritical. Hitler really liked blonde hair, but yet he had brown hair himself.

Stephen Geller said...

The "Triumph of the Will" was a very interesting film and is a great example of Nazi propaganda. It is amazing to see how Germany is portrayed as such a perfect society under Hitler's rule in the film. I wouldn't be surprised if this film convinced many Germans to support the Nazi party during the time period. The innovative techniques used to film this documentary were also very interesting.

Stephen Geller said...

I agree with what Kevin said about how Hitler was able to gain so many followers during his rein. Propaganda such as this film fueled Hitler's control over Germany. His use of basically false advertisement allowed him to take such great control over the people of Germany.

alex arsenis said...

I think this movie was veryy interesting and was successful propaganda tool to unify the Germany while they were facing difficult times. It also used methods of unifying a hatred towards the jewish people. I thought it was interesting how so many people stood behind Hitler and tried to impress him at all costs. He made himself into a godlike image which helped him unify the country of Germany to do something so unthinkable.

alex arsenis said...

I agree with nick in the sense that the main purpose of this film was to show how perfect Germany was and how Hitler had already made so many changes in their quality of life

Kim Jones said...

I think the most important part of the film was that it was a propaganda film and it made Germans want to join the Nazi party. The Germans really admired Hitler and therefore he easily persuaded people to join his party. I think the director of the film was successful in trying to portray Germany's return as a great power. When Hitler performed speeches, he didn't need any notes, he was able to talk for hours, and he hooked his audience easily which all showed how much people idolized him.

Kim Jones said...

I agree with Emily H when she mentions that Germans saw Hitler as a "God." Although the film did a good job at portraying Germany as a great power, it was as if the German's were brainwashed and didn't think that Hitler could do anything bad, which clearly isn't the case.

Michael Graham said...

I was absent

Unknown said...

I wasn't here for most of the documentary, but I can see why it's used for learning purposes in film classes today, even though it has such controversial subject matter. However, I wish there was another example of such film techniques because this film recruited so many Germans to Hitler's party. The film doesn't show enough of the true events that were happening behind the scenes.

Unknown said...

I agree with Kelsey, in that I also thought it was "very educational and showed a different side of the Nazi’s that I have yet to see; it was interesting to see a documentary on the “optimistic side” of the Nazi’s or one that depicts them in a positive light."
I couldn't have said it better myself.

Matt Cullen said...

The most important message the film was trying to show the German people was that The German race is superior and Adolf Hitler will make sure the race stays pure. I believe the director was successful in showing Germany as a great power. Hitler is shown as a great leader in this film, one that will lead the pure German race to become a world power.

Matt Cullen said...

I agree with Arsenis in that this film is a very good example of propaganda.

James Seatter said...

I was absent.