Hitler as Germany’s redeemer: the opening scene of Triumph of the Will presents Hitler as a god who flies silently through the heavens and above the clouds. Hitler was the first politician to use airplanes for his campaigns and Leni Riefenstahl capitalized on the novelty of that by likening his arrival in Nuremberg to a Second Coming. As the clouds part to reveal the rooftops of Nuremberg, the shadow of the plane speeds along the street as if there is an angel overhead with wings outspread.
Another scene that presents Hitler as a redeemer comes directly after the first one. He is seen in an open car driving from the airport into the city, past crowds of cheering, adoring and saluting people, most of them women, children or soldiers. Hitler stands and salutes the adulatory crowds. He is grave, composed and yet occasionally permits himself a benevolent smile. Shots of faces in the crowd add to the impression that he has come to deliver Nuremberg. The emphasis is on women who gaze on him as if he is a beloved father, the answer to their prayers.
An end to the depression is signaled in several scenes. The first is the Hitler Youth camp where healthy young men engage in good-natured horseplay before breakfast. They are fit, their teeth are good and the food is plentiful. This adds to the general impression that Nuremberg has left the depression behind. The parade of farmers from all over Germany, all in traditional costume, includes a cornucopia of produce, another sign that the depression is over.
Jobs are a sure cure for a depression. The men of the German Labor Front are inspected by Hitler with all the respect due to soldiers. It is announced that 52,000 men are building the autobahns while another 100,000 men are working in allied industries. “Wherever we look,” says a Nazi leader, “we see buildings, activity and life!” Employment in public works projects was one way in which the Nazis overcame the depression.
Class divisions are supposed to dissolve under National Socialism. Robert Ley, head of the German Labor Front, says that workers are “equally entitled, upright and proud.” When the Reich’s Labor Service is reviewed by Hitler the men perform a well-rehearsed drama to show him that they are from different parts of Germany but that all are working for the Reich. The Fuhrer says in his address to these workers that “physical labor will no longer be a divisive concept.” Physical labor is as good as any other kind; in fact, says Hitler, “the whole nation passes through your school.” In the future no one can amount to anything in Germany without first serving in the labor brigades.
The recovery of Germany as a great power is indicated implicitly by the huge crowds all saluting at the same time and cheering Hitler’s every word, by the great hall, the stadium and the square decorated with giant banners and insignias, and the almost religious devotion shown to Hitler. However, when foreign dignitaries are presented at the first meeting, they turn out to be a small and undistinguished group. Explicitly, at least, Hitler and the other Nazi party officials only express an interest in making Germany internally strong.
Great power status in military terms is also suggested rather than shown. There are no great displays of military might, but the disciplined labor brigades shouldering spades only need rifles to become soldiers. The military exercises performed by the Reichswehr are a rehearsal for Blitzkrieg but instead of armored cars and tanks the soldiers are on horseback and equipped with horse-drawn cannons.
The long march-past toward the end of the film does not include regular troops, only the “paramilitary” organizations such as the SA and the SS. The soldiers carry knapsacks, even swords, but no guns. Everyone is in uniform, everyone has been drilled to form meticulous rows of goose-stepping soldiers but they are said to serve a political purpose, not a military one. Obviously that could change in an instant.