"Not a Documentary, or an Indictment, or a Poem, But a Meditation on the Most Important Phenomenon of the Twentieth Century." - Frances Truffaut

Starring: Narrator: Michel Bouquet, Archival footage: Reinhard Heydrich, Heinrich Himmler, Adolf Hitler, Julius Streicher

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★★☆ - near perfect

"As I speak to you now, the icy water of the ponds and ruins fill the hallows of the mass graves, a frigid and muddy water, as murky as our memory. War nods off to sleep, but keeps one eye always open." - Narrator

Why watch this? Graphic images juxtaposed with gentle, poignant narration. Truly haunting.

Plot Summary: This French documentary explores the Nazi concentration camps and the Holocaust, using a combination of color footage of the abandoned camps a decade later and black-and-white archival footage from during World War II. The film contrasts the serene, overgrown landscapes of the present day with the harrowing images of atrocities that occurred there in the past. It examines the history and function of the camps, emphasizing the scale of the horror.

Dad's Preview: Though a short film at 35 minutes, its immediate impact is sobering. One thing that hit me hardest was the rooms filled with personal affects, glasses, shoes, clothes, and human hair. The Nazis, in their model of efficiency, used a massive room full of human hair to make rugs. Rugs. This film is often referred to as the greatest French film ever made, and it certainly is one of the best documentaries made. The combination of blunt narration and shocking images serves as both an archive of history, and a warning that this tragedy arose from complacency and can happen again.


Anatole Dauman; Argos Films