“i didn’t die…. everything that i loved was taken from me… and i didn’t die.”
i must have woke up hating myself more than usual this june because this is the second movie of the month that has been really hard to watch. the topic of the holocaust and a man so haunted and jaded by his past that he can no longer see the good in humanity is terribly effective, and rod seiger as sol nazerman draws so much sympathy as you slowly unravel the threads of all the horror he was exposed to during his time in nazi germany. the movie initially lulls you into this false sense of security with a really sweet family moment that gets abruptly cut into and you spend the next two(ish) hours learning about all that sol lost and that was taken from him. a large portion of this is done to great effect thanks to the use of quick jump cuts to the past, or to the quick closeups to the various characters faces as we focus in on the terrors and fears they’re going through. sol presents himself as a man bitter about the world, viewing everyone around him as scum, and as inferior to him, and it’s a result of the very complex feelings he has for himself. sol believes that he should’ve died in the camps with his family, and he feels immense guilt over being the only one to survive. this guilt manifests itself in his everyday life and in the way that he holds all relationships at arms length, regardless of the person’s intentions with him. several times over we are shown that people have an admiration for sol, be it the man who comes in to talk about politics with him, ortiz’s repetitive claims that sol is his teacher, and marilyn’s continued efforts to better understand him. i think it speaks a lot to his fears that any connection he may make will ultimately lead to the same fate. it is better to be alone and sure in the world than to have people abs be unsure of what’s next. the panic that he descends into near the end and the ultimate fracturing of his psyche is equally hard to watch. an important film, but not an easy one to watch.
“i didn’t die…. everything that i loved was taken from me… and i didn’t die.”
i must have woke up hating myself more than usual this june because this is the second movie of the month that has been really hard to watch. the topic of the holocaust and a man so haunted and jaded by his past that he can no longer see the good in humanity is terribly effective, and rod seiger as sol nazerman draws so much sympathy as you slowly unravel the threads of all the horror he was exposed to during his time in nazi germany. the movie initially lulls you into this false sense of security with a really sweet family moment that gets abruptly cut into and you spend the next two(ish) hours learning about all that sol lost and that was taken from him. a large portion of this is done to great effect thanks to the use of quick jump cuts to the past, or to the quick closeups to the various characters faces as we focus in on the terrors and fears they’re going through. sol presents himself as a man bitter about the world, viewing everyone around him as scum, and as inferior to him, and it’s a result of the very complex feelings he has for himself. sol believes that he should’ve died in the camps with his family, and he feels immense guilt over being the only one to survive. this guilt manifests itself in his everyday life and in the way that he holds all relationships at arms length, regardless of the person’s intentions with him. several times over we are shown that people have an admiration for sol, be it the man who comes in to talk about politics with him, ortiz’s repetitive claims that sol is his teacher, and marilyn’s continued efforts to better understand him. i think it speaks a lot to his fears that any connection he may make will ultimately lead to the same fate. it is better to be alone and sure in the world than to have people abs be unsure of what’s next. the panic that he descends into near the end and the ultimate fracturing of his psyche is equally hard to watch. an important film, but not an easy one to watch.
