I haven't seen many documentaries, and I don't have a high opinion on this, but I personally think that it is much more difficult to shoot a short documentary film than a long film, which requires the director to choose the best material and express it in the shortest time. best results. But "Night and Fog" is such an excellent short documentary.
Unlike general documentaries about concentration camps, the film begins with a one-and-a-half minute long panorama shot. Accompanied by even a little brisk music, the rhythm of the camera slowly pans, from the blue sky to the green fields, bringing a smooth visual effect, as if this is a peaceful land. However, such a peaceful land is to pave the way for the subsequent pictures. The camera is pulled down, but there is a sinful iron net, and within the iron net is the former city of sin. At the end of the long shot, the word "concentration camp" appeared in the narration. The blood has dried, the mouthpiece has been silent, and the camera is the only visitor there.
After the long takes in color, there is a quick switch to the world of black and white - a director's cut of the era. The advancing army, the fanatical crowd, the "swastika" constantly appearing in the middle of the picture... The repetition of dots, lines and planes, and the strong contrast in color, give us a shock to our hearts, the good life of the Jews is over, the darkness day is about to begin. The new state machinery was put into operation, and orders were issued for the construction of concentration camps. Ironically, there were no specific stylistic rules that left the Nazis' imaginations open. Pictures of the concentration camps flashed across the screen. There are Alpine-style concentration camps, garage-style concentration camps, Japanese-style concentration camps, and even no-style concentration camps... The director reminds us through these various photos: but no matter what the appearance of the concentration camps is, they The essence is the same.
The language turns pale in front of this film because the killing is too real. The scene of the Jews getting on the train and being sent to the concentration camp, the director used an overhead view, the scene was chaotic, and the helplessness of the Jews reappeared in front of us. The black-and-white railroad tracks in the old materials are interlaced with the color railroad tracks shot by the director, and the Jewish heaven and hell seem to be only a line between them. Shots of men widening their eyes from fear, shots of dead patients, shots of naked Jews being pushed into pits to be buried alive, shots of Allied forces shoveling away corpses with forklifts in concentration camps... In the presence of bones, any expressionist art form would be ashamed.
The entire film is only 32 minutes long, and the back and forth switching between black and white and color makes us seem to travel between history and reality, with an immersive feeling. In the end, no one wants to admit mistakes. Those mistakes have nothing to do with you, nothing to do with him, so who is it about?
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