> > I am very glad she made Triumph of the Will, it was only by viewing it in a > college film class (many long years ago) that I came close to understanding the > charisma that that funny little man Hitler had. Also, even though it was in > German, she managed to convey the national joint insanity that German -- the > fervor of nationalism led astray -- went through. Without seeing it, I am not > sure I would ever have "gotten" it.
Well said, Marnie - I think that expresses my own viewpoint far better than I could have done. There *is* an attraction in such spectacles, and the only way those of us not present can understand that on an emotional (as opposed to rational) level is from second-hand experience. Ask yourself this - would the film be any less stirring were it made by an openly avowed Nazi? By someone who fought the Nazis? By a neutral outsider? That film is an incredible work, and I am glad that it was made. As to the use to which the film was put; that's the recurring problem of the photojournalist. Each photographer must make his own choices about that. But once you accept a commission, you should carry it out to the best of your ability. One last analogy: At the end of "Dr. Strangelove", Kubrick has included an incredibly beautiful sequence of one of the most horrendous creations of man - nuclear explosions. Yet it would be hard to reason from this that Kubrick was pro-bomb.
