Most films about the testimony of the Holocaust can be understood as a collection of narratives of primary or secondary information. At the end of World War II, the most famous movies that appeared were all looking at genocide from the perspective of second-hand materials and outsiders. These kinds of films are now generally understood as " essay films." They come from a contemporary understanding of events, and rarely have a first-hand perspective presented to the public. They are both sharp and abstract, using a calm sense of distance; they reflect human evil, group thinking, and genocide capacity from an academic and theoretical perspective. These filmmakers are also aware of the objectivity and limitations of documentaries, and do not pretend to show the so-called truth. In the documentary short "Night and Fog" (Night and Fog, 1956), the alendronate-Resnais (Alain Resnais, 1922-2014, French film director) made it clear that the film is his personal thoughts and observations carrier. Whether it is primary materials or fictional scenes, what the audience sees is only a reconstruction of reality, not a true reproduction. Other films in this category include the more abstract but equally great documentary " Blood of the Beasts " (Le Sang des bêtes/Blood of the Beasts, 1949).
Between the witness and the testimony are the news documents of events such as the Nuremberg trials (1945-46) and later Eichmann trials (1961). Both are centered on the testimony of survivors and perpetrators, but these narratives do not have the same cultural imprint as the shots in the liberation camps. Facts have proved that more intuitive "witness" images are more communicative than detailed testimonies, and they can help consolidate people's limited cultural understanding of the Holocaust. Such images that emphasize "witnesses" often describe events from a narrow perspective, emphasizing the identity and painful psychology of the victims, while ignoring their tenacity and true memories.
Welcome to follow my WeChat public account : ABAGo
View more about Night and Fog reviews
