Sunday, June 12, 2011

ET 4 NEW : Birth of a Nation and Triumph of the Will

In the production of the films “Birth of a Nation” and “Triumph of the Will”, it was obviously intended for the producers to influence the audience of both films to side with the protagonist(s) who are the Ku Klux Klan and Adolf Hitler respectively. During those troubled times, the general public who were in the midst of all the chaos and war, needed, a hero. The Ku Klux Klan and Adolf Hitler took advantage of the turmoil, and turned it to their advantage through the power, of film.

Both films were equally powerful in terms of their entire structure of shots and transitions. Firstly, in the film “Birth of a Nation” by David W. Griffith, the scenes were carefully arranged to portray the heroism of the Ku Klux Klan. Like in most films or movies we usually watch, the director would intentionally arrange the heroic scene followed by the enemy causing trouble or destruction which would continue on and on without the audience noticing. Similarly, in “Birth of a Nation”, if one were to notice, the scenes were in the same order as well! The scenes would alternate between the scenes of the African Americans causing havoc, the Caucasians being terrorized by the African Americans and lastly, the Ku Klux Klan on their horses riding to the rescue. This would lead the audience to believe that the Ku Klux Klan were heroes on their way to bringing justice to the African Americans. However, in Leni Riefenstahl’s “Triumph of the Will”, she opted for something a little different. In the very beginning, the audience is shown the clouds and eventually the city of Nuremberg. This was deliberately done to depict God’s view from the sky – a ruler and a conqueror, which was Adolf Hitler at the time over the German land. As he descended from the sky, like how most holy deities do, the people greeted and saluted his presence. The scene was brilliantly made to illustrate Hitler’s God-like presence over the Germans.

There were many other aspects that made both protagonists in both films appear melodramatic. The music playing in the background played a massive significance in exaggerating characters and the plot. In David W. Griffith’s “Birth of a Nation”, the music playing in the background expressed the hopelessness of the Caucasians as they were terrorized and killed by the African Americans. As the Ku Klux Klan arrived and rescued the Caucasians from the African Americans though, the music then shifted to a more relaxed nature – as if everything was safe now, which portrays the Ku Klux Klan as saviors. Like in my previous paragraph, Leni Riefenstahl’s approach was slightly different in the film, “Triumph of the Will”. As Hitler descended from the sky on an airplane, the music playing in the background was intended to make him appear as the leader to salvation. One could notice the smiles and the light in every supporter’s eyes as they managed to catch a glimpse of their leader, which made most of them appear relieved and reassured. Together with the massive amount of supporters’ deafening cheers, Leni Riefenstahl really did manage to bring out the most out of the scene. The music would then continue to play as Hitler continued to parade through the tens of thousands of supports in the city of Nuremburg – to create a long-lasting effect on the audience on how powerful and respected he really is.


In conclusion, through the art of film, one is capable of bringing out the potential out of every scene. As all of us are only human – we are constantly swayed by our emotions all the time. Directors exploit that weakness through different types of music together with the fact that the screen that people watch it through is similar to that of a window – a limited view of reality. Through film, one views reality through the eyes of the director, or in this case – the director’s own view on reality itself.

1 comment:

  1. This is much improved. You still could focus more on the idea of "rescue". How specifically is it handled in both films?

    7/8

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