An American Triumph des Willens

Rating: Null/10 (15 October 1999)

Ford and Toland have clearly learned from Riefenstahl how to push the buttons of unthinking audiences.
Riefenstahl is often condemned for Triumph des Willens, but her work could only promote Nazism by virtue of the fact that the techniques themselves are pernicious. And they are pernicious when used to promote any other ideological agenda, including that of the New Deal. If Triumph des Willens is a very evil film, then The Grapes of Wrath is a very evil film. If the Grapes of Wrath is a laudable film, then so is Triumph des Willens.