The military nature of this film struck me from the beginning. Going into it I was expecting to see a focus on war, as German was beginning to gear up for war by this time. I was also expecting to see less religious focus than Triumph des Willens. We shall see.
Opens with pure military theme (swords, soldiers, camp, etc). The swastika is very prominent, just like TdW - although this doesn't necessarily mean anything since the swastika can take on different symbolic meaning depending on the time. It's religious undertones in the 1934 Rally could be taken over by military undertones in 1935. However, the next flag to fly is the War Ensign of Germany. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reichskriegsflagge The flag in this video appears to be one that was in use from 1933-35. What strikes me about the flag in use during these three years is the prominence of the cross in contrast to earlier AND later flags. In earlier flags an eagle takes center stage. In later Nazi flags, the swastika takes precedence. And yet, this flag has no swastika whatsoever.
Next, soldiers wake up to the reveille (sp) and get ready for the day. Following is a bunch of purely military stuff.
After a while the scene shifts and it is welcomed in by a trumpet sounding (woot trumpets! :P), a shot of an eagle/swastika combo, and then a shot of a bunch of swastika flags, followed by the war ensign again. It finally cuts to the rally itself. Crowds of people in stands, with swastika flags flying overhead. Quickly back to military crap again! This time some sort of combat (wish i knew more about war stuff). Lots of cannons and tanks and shooting and explosions. Planes. When it does leave war scenes, it goes to the swastika, the war ensign, or something else war related.
Interestingly, at the end of the second part (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubah0FFaCMk&feature=related) the war ensign is changed to the 1935-38 one. That is confusing...not sure why they had two flags in use. The second flag is interesting, though, because of it's combination of the iron cross and the swastika in one flag. Does this symbolize the Nazification of the military? Perhaps it does... that may be worth looking into.
This film is much shorter than Triumph des Willens. I won't complain. :)
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