Tag der Freiheit: Unsere Wehrmacht (Day of Freedom: Our Armed Forces) is the third documentary directed by Leni Riefenstahl, following Der Sieg des Glaubens and Triumph des Willens. Her third film recounts the Seventh Party Rally of the Nazi Party, which occurred in Nuremberg in 1935, and focuses on the German army.
| Tag der Freiheit: Unsere Wehrmacht | |
|---|---|
 Wehrmacht in front of audience in the film | |
| Directed by | Leni Riefenstahl |
| Written by | Leni Riefenstahl |
| Produced by | Leni Riefenstahl |
| Starring | Adolf Hitler Hermann Göring Rudolf Hess Heinrich Himmler |
| Cinematography | Hans Ertl Walter Frentz Albert Kling Guzzi Lantschner Kurt Neubert Willy Zielke |
| Edited by | Leni Riefenstahl |
| Music by | Peter Kreuder |
Production company | Reichsparteitag-Film |
| Distributed by | Universum Film AG |
Release date |
|
Running time | 28 minutes (surviving incomplete copy) |
| Country | Germany |
| Language | German |
Tag der Freiheit was considered lost at the end of World War II, but an incomplete print of the film was discovered in the 1970s—the extant footage reveals Riefenstahl mainly reprising the approach she used in Triumph of the Will (1934), though certain more expressionistic sequences clearly presage the more audacious style she would adopt for Olympia (1938).[1]
Synopsis
editThe film depicts a mock battle staged by German troops during the ceremonies at Nuremberg on German Armed Forces Day 1935. The camera follows the soldiers from their early-morning preparations in their tent city as they march singing to the vast parade grounds where a miniature war involving infantry, cavalry, aircraft, flak guns and the first public appearance of Germany's new forbidden tank is presented before Hitler and thousands of spectators.
The film ends with a montage of Nazi flags to the tune of the "Deutschlandlied" and a shot of German fighter biplanes flying overhead in a swastika formation.
Background
editWhen several generals in the Wehrmacht protested over the minimal army presence in Triumph of the Will, Hitler proposed his own "artistic" compromise where Triumph would open with a camera slowly tracking down a row of all the "overlooked" generals (and placate each general's ego). According to her own testimony, Riefenstahl boldly refused his suggestion and insisted on keeping artistic control over Triumph of the Will. She did agree to return to the 1935 rally and make a film exclusively about the Wehrmacht, which became Tag der Freiheit.[2]
References
edit- ^ "The UCLA Film and Television Archive Presents: The Films of Leni Riefenstahl". germanhollywood.com. 11 February 2005. Archived from the original on 2005-02-11. Retrieved 5 April 2014.
- ^ "Tag der Freiheit".
External links
edit- Day of Freedom: Our Armed Forces at IMDb
- Tag der Freiheit: Unsere Wehrmacht is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive
- Day of Freedom: Our Armed Forces at AllMovie
- English translation of Hitler's speech in the film Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine
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