As "Nelly & Nadine" (2022 release from Sweden; 92 min.) opens, it is "April 28, 1945" and a large contingent of women reach Malmo, Sweden, including Nadine Wang. The event was recorded by multiple sources, and we get some amazing footage. The voice-over wonders what Nadine was thinking about "and I found the answer in northern France". We are introduced to Sylvie, the granddaughter of Nelly, and keeper of tons of archive materials which she has never reviewed closely... until now. At this point we are 10 minutes into the documentary.
Couple of comments: this is the latest from Swedish producer-director magnus Gertten ("Every Face Has a Name"). Here he carefully reconstructs the absolutely remarkable story of two women who meet in a concentration camp, get split up, and what came thereafter. The movie uses Sylvie's reading of numerous documents and watching ample 8mm footage to built the story, layer upon layer. The movie's pace is deliberately quite slow, so that we can register what we are hearing and watching. There is a fantastic classical score to accentuate it all.
"Nelly & Nadine" was released in late 2022, presumably so as to qualify for the Oscar nominations, which it failed to garner. Don't let that fool you. This documentary id currently rated 94% Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, and for good reason. I stumbled onto this film last night on Amazon Prime. So glad I found this. Not only is the story remarkable, but it contains a ton of footage that has high historical value as well. If you are in the mood for a moving love story of a different kind, I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion.