Triumph of the Will
One of the best ways to gauge the response to "Triumph of the Will" was the instant and lasting international fame it gave Riefenstahl. "The Economist" said it "sealed her reputation as the greatest female filmmaker of the 20th century." For a director who made eight films, only two of which received significant coverage outside of Germany, Riefenstahl had unusually high name recognition for the remainder of her life, most of it stemming from "Triumph of the Will". However, her career was also permanently damaged by this association. After the war, Riefenstahl was imprisoned by the Allies for four years for allegedly being a Nazi sympathizer and was permanently blacklisted by the film industry. When she died in 2003—sixty-eight years after the film's premiere—her obituary received significant coverage in many major publications, including the Associated Press, "The Wall Street Journal", "The New York Times", and "The Guardian", most of which reaffirmed the importance of "Triumph of the Will".