It is almost impossible for a mainstream film to deal with the Holocaust. Movies are primarily a medium for escapism; 95% mean to do nothing more than make money for producers and entertain the viewer. The central horror of the 20th century—the deliberate, systematic slaughter of millionsis—not a subject to be trivialized. How, then, does a commercial filmmaker tell a story ab…
Goodbye, Children 1987 Louis Malle Some have criticized Louis Malle's autobiographical tale of occupied France as being unemotional, but that is a completely wrongheaded interpretation. They confuse sentimentality with emotion. Malle refuses to sugarcoat his characters. Their flaws are real, and so are their reactions to the terrible situation in which they find themselves. In January 1944…
Le Dernier Metro 1980 Francois Truffaut The delicate touch that characterizes so much of Francois Truffaut's work is evident in his one war film, a subtle and complex study of the effects of Nazi occupation on a Parisian theater troupe. American audiences accustomed to more demonstrative physical action will find Truffaut's reticence off-putting. An important subplot is dealt with m…
La Vita E Bella 1998 Roberto Benigni Despite its astonishing boxoffice success, Roberto Benigni's romantic comedy set during the Holocaust is a troubling film on several levels. Given his choice of genres, the film necessarily lightens its subject. The characters never really acknowledge it either, treating the terrorist acts of fascist thugs as bothersome distractions from the more import…
1993 Steven Spielberg Any filmmaker who chooses to deal with the Holocaust faces several serious problems. The first is deciding which story to tell. Conventional heroics are impossible; a realistic look at the horror is too appalling. In Thomas Keneally's fact-based novel, Steven Spielberg found the right balance of redemption and sorrow. Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson) is an ambitious busi…
Wannseekonferenz 1984 Heinz Schirk On Tuesday, January 20, 1942, key members of the Nazi party and the German government bureaucracy met at a house in the Berlin suburb of Wannsee. The meeting was called by Obergruppenfuhrer Reinhard Heydrich at the request of Hermann Goering. Its purpose was to discuss the logistics and particulars of the “final solution to the Jewish problem.” Cri…