ET 4: BIRTH OF A NATION AND TRIUMPH OF THE WILL

         

I was introduced to the movie “Birth of a Nation” directed by D.W. Griffith when I previously took a U.S. history course.  I still remember vividly that in my history textbook, the movie was glorified as a masterpiece and was a pride for racist White Americans during the 1920’s as it was about the infamous Civil War and heavily degraded the Blacks. However, it is only now, in Film 101, I got the opportunity to watch the movie along with another famous propaganda film which is “Triumph of the Will” directed by Leni Riefenstahl that chronicles the 1934 Nazi Party Congress in Nuremberg.  Indeed, I have to admit, since both movies are made at two different time periods, they differ greatly in production values and technology. However, they both execute their job well in conveying their message across to their targeted audiences. I am now going to compare and analyze “Birth of a Nation” and “Triumph of the Will” in terms of their melodramatic essence and why both films act as excellent propaganda tools.

In “Birth of a Nation”, there were various close up shots used by Griffith focusing on the expressions of the Whites and not surprisingly, he rarely zooms the camera to the Blacks because I believe he wanted audiences to think of Blacks as people who don’t have any feelings thus being compared to lesser human beings.  In one of the scenes, there was a close up shot of a White child crying and children are often used in movies because they are thought as being pure, vulnerable and innocent. Thus, Griffith has convinced his audiences that the Blacks are heartless and they wouldn’t hesitate to kill the helpless child. This is indeed a good use of melodrama. Also, Griffith often used cross-cutting shots in this film. For example, in melodrama films, there is bound to be an element of suspense and the director has created that by alternately showing the scene of the Ku Klux Klan(KKK) riding their horses and the scene of a White family being held captive in a cabin surrounded by Blacks. This indeed arouses suspense among the audiences on whether the KKK will save the family. To add to that, this is an excellent use of heroism where the KKK, being the Hero comes to save the day! Griffith also has taken the opportunity to insert love sequences in this “historical film” and perhaps this is to attract more female audiences to view this film. As expected of most melodrama films, both lead couples in the film receive their happy ending as both the Southern and Northern families unite and Griffith has effectively used iris shots to emphasize intimate scenes at the end of the film.

“Birth of a Nation” works effectively as propaganda tool because the director has effectively created a sense of “us and them” in the film where “us” are the Whites and “them” being the Blacks. In many instances, there were double standards in terms of the portrayal of the Blacks and Whites. Firstly, when he portrayed the Whites as heroes who fight for all their life’s worth, he instead portrayed the Blacks as cowards who when lost the battle, took the first opportunity to run. Next,when he portrayed the Whites as being civilized and having a strong family unit, the Blacks whereas were portrayed as hooligans and people with utmost low moral values. The list can go on and on… In addition, Griffith has used religion as way to strengthen his propaganda. In the final scene of the movie, Jesus Christ was shown to be appearing to bless the Whites who have won the battle against the Blacks. In other words, Griffith wanted to point out that God himself has approved that Whites should always be superior and rule the Blacks. It is indeed a no-brainer on why “Birth of a Nation” has created unwanted animosity among the Blacks and Whites upon its release.

Moving on to “Triumph of the Will” by Leni Riefenstahl, the film’s opening sequence in my opinion is explosive and creates a perfect sense of melodrama! In the opening of the movie, these statements were displayed,

“Twenty years after the outbreak of the World War,

Sixteen years after the start of the German suffering,

Nineteen months after the start of Germany’s rebirth “

Tell me, what other perfect openings could there have been to such a great and powerful melodramatic film?  Any German at that time would have been emotionally pumped to watch the film just by viewing the opening sequence because this was what they needed, someone understanding their pain of losing the World War and now it’s time for them to reclaim their lost glory! Right after those statements were shown, the scene fades away and we are seen to be flying in the clouds on an airplane. Then, we are shown the aerial view of the city Nuremberg which looked very peaceful and untouched by modernization thus earning its name as “Old Germany”.  The scene then cuts to a large crowd of people cheering when the plane lands and Adolf Hitler is shown exiting the plane. All of these happen in the first 5 minutes of the film and there’s a reason why Riefenstahl has made it as such.  Hitler is shown to be a hero and a savior descending from the sky who was sent by God to relieve the Germans from their suffering just like the KKK in “Birth of a Nation”.

“Triumph of the Will” also contains the perfect ingredients to be a propaganda tool. First and foremost, the low-angle shot used whenever Hitler gives his speech is brilliant as it emphasizes his power and it seems like as if he’s speaking to us the audience itself. Next, Hitler was always full of energy and charisma whenever he delivered his speech and this could be seen by his well-trained body language. His powerful voice just makes us sit up straight and look forward to whatever he has got to say next. Also, the Youth Rally scene in the movie portrayed orderliness and Hitler’s ability to bring together such a huge crowd of people especially the young boys whom most people often perceive to be naughty and lack the ability to follow orders! It  also showed the Germans that Hitler cared for the younger generation and he was fighting for their better quality of life. Hitler’s propaganda of equality too is clearly seen where everyone present in the rally were wearing same types of clothes  and there were no ranks among the military men.  It is interesting to note as well that Hitler used religion as a propaganda just like D.W. Griffith in “Birth of a Nation”. This can be seen when a bishop was present during the final speech that Hitler delivered in the end of the film and as Germany was a Christian nation, the people would have felt like as if God endorsed whatever actions that Hitler took since the bishop is a representative of God.

All in all, “Birth of a Nation” and “Triumph of the Will” are indeed masterpieces of propaganda and I wish, if only they were used for a good cause rather than evil, the world would have been a better place altogether.