Film: Leni Riefenstahl's "Triumph of the Will"

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that Susan Sontag in her article "Fascinating Fascism" on the life and work of Leni Riefenstahl explores the complex mix of the larger themes of Nazi ideology with an artistic vision that simply claims to depict pure history. The author points out that Sontag's analysis of Riefenstahl's work and particularly of her most prominent film "Triumph of the Will" 1944 sheds light on the director's fascist aesthetics. The paper contends that historical analysis of Riefenstahl's film suggest that Sontag may herself have been a victim of Riefenstahl's propaganda to some degree.

From the Paper:

"Susan Sontag, in her article on the life and work of Leni Riefenstahl "Fascinating Fascism," explores the complex mix of "the larger themes of Nazi ideology" with an artistic vision that simply claims to depict "pure history" (Sontag, 42). However, while Sontag's analysis of Riefenstahl's work - and particularly of her most prominent film Triumph of the Will (1944) - sheds light on the director's fascist aesthetics, historical analysis of Riefenstahl's Triumph of the Will suggest that Sontag may herself have been a victim of Riefenstahl's "propaganda" to some degree."

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