"Night and Fog" is a chilling, haunting documentary that juxtaposes footage of present-day Auschwitz (present-day at the time of filming) with footage of the atrocities committed there during WWII. I defy anyone to watch this movie and not be affected by what they see. Resnais creates a spare and unsentimental film. There's no editorializing here, no attempts to soften the horror or find redemption in a pitch black period of world history. This makes movies like "Schindler's List" and other Hollywood recreations of the Holocaust look like phony shams, despite whatever good intentions they have. The deserted concentration camps have the feeling of ghost towns; you half expect to see tumbleweeds blowing across the empty spaces. The pain and suffering of the countless victims who went through the camps is almost palpable.
Deeply disturbing, but obviously an important chronicle of an event the world would do wise never to forget.
Grade: A+
Deeply disturbing, but obviously an important chronicle of an event the world would do wise never to forget.
Grade: A+