Shoah
“You want history I’m giving you history”
Shoah•1.the mass murder of Jewish people under the German Nazi regime during the period 1941–1945; the Ηolocaust.
Modern Hebrew, translating directly to ‘Catastrophe’.
The 4th highest rated documentary and 19th highest rated in general, Shoah is a sprawling masterpiece of modern documentary filmmaking. In the documentary there is no archived footage, only the words of first hand witnesses, which I believe should be necessary viewing not just for anyone studying/interested in film, but to everyone in particular.
With the rise of the internet, there has almost been a softening to the blow of the Holocaust and a desensitisation to the true horror and scale of it. From the January of 1933, when Hitler was appointed as the chancellor of Germany, to 1945, to when the Holocaust ended, six million both ethnic jew and ones practising Judaism, were in organised manner.
With its runtime of 9 hours and 12 minutes, I managed to watch this from 9:45pm, to . It isn’t and didn’t feel like an endurance challenge however, as with this subject matter, the least I could do is watch the entire documentary.
Directed by and starring as the main interviewer, Holocaust survivor Claude Lanzmann, this almost ‘understated’ masterpiece, uses dialogue, and interviews rather than graphic footage,it uses long and slow shots, however it’s almost entirely the opposite of slow cinema.
Instead of trying to detach the viewer from the story, it completely sticks to the viewer for a viewing experience so touching and effective that it takes 9 hours to finish the film, and another 9 to take it all in.
The film is entirely interviews, and Claude going to places that resemble treblinka and other places relevant in the topic of the Holocaust. The choice to not include any archival footage by Claude I think is genius and absolutely relevant in the context of this documentary.
Unlike another Holocaust documentary I recently watched, Night and fog, which consisted of at least around 80% footage of the Holocaust happening in its time, Shoah does not try to make the viewer feel inherent guilt for the Holocaust by shocking and provocative imagery, it uses real life victims and interviews to slowly take over the viewers emotion and break down their perception of the event in general from the inside out.
The film is cut into two bits, 4 hours and 30 minutes each, and then those parts are cut into two, however it only officially has 2 parts.
Idk what else to write so here are some of my favourite scenes/peaks:Barbershop sceneTreblinka train sceneBeginning boat sceneThe silent long lasting shots
I guess this is my serious 9 hour long pretentious film bro movie everyoneHas in their top 10💔