Too much moral judgement passed in the narration. I know the holocaust might be a difficult topic for many people to approach neutrally, but to me this makes it a poor documentary - it simply agrees with the common beliefs and provides nothing extra to think about or challenge our perceptions. Most of the narration seemed highly speculative, one-sided, and untrustworthy. The images were not particularly shocking, either.
4/10
~ Observe, and act with clarity. ~
"Too much moral judgement"? "One-sided"? There *is* only one side, you fool! The Holocaust is not something that you can have a moral 'opinion' on! (Unless of course you're going to own up to being a fascist or Holocaust Denier. And no, I'm not saying you are either of those things, just speculating). What kind of person sits and ponders on whether or not the Holocaust was morally right or wrong?
You mention "common beliefs". There *are* no "common beliefs" here, only facts.
"Nothing extra to think about"? The very subject itself will provide lifelong food for thought, even in the mind of the most unthinking person.
Saying it's "untrustworthy" makes you sound like you think some part of the documentary - and by extension, its subject matter - were staged. Or did not happen. You know, like a Holocaust denier would.
If you think such images are not "particularly shocking" then I cannot begin to imagine what you've seen in life. I hope for your sake that it's just bluster and disingenuousness rather than your having had an experience of equal horror (though that seems unlikely, given your flippant attitude toward the film).
I think the Holocaust was undeniably a good thing. Without it neither your nor I would exist, and since I value my existence, I also value everything in history which has led towards it.
Hope it happens again!
~ Observe, and act with clarity. ~
[deleted]
"I value my existence".
Why on earth would you or anyone else value that? Your existence is a bummer, man. It`s a bummer,
"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan
That is a defense for volcanoes, earthquakes and tornadoes, not voluntary acts of human evil.
You are hardly alone in overvaluing your existence, most of our culture and all of our religion is based on such collective arrogance.
If it happens again, I hope to meet you in the camp as we go to the showers for the last time.
CB
Good Times, Noodle Salad
Evil is a beautiful part of human nature and of nature in general. (There's a false dichotomy between the two.)
I don't view myself as overvaluing my existence. I know I will die - maybe in some cruel way, maybe not - and be forgotten, and I accept this. It is you who wants to rid the world of hardships and make it soft, as though to relieve the burden of death and meaninglessness from the poor people who are unable to bear it.
~ Observe, and act with clarity. ~
Must be the worst thing I've ever read on here I'm really shocked
shareToo much moral judgement passed in the narration.
The images were not particularly shocking, either.
I agree that to us the images aren't all that shocking, at least not compared to our expectations. Probably that's partly because we've seen these images (or similar ones) before, perhaps even as students in public schools. And partly because gruesome images are all around us these days ("slasher" movies, "violent" video games, etc.).
But "Night and Fog" was released into a very different context. The films of concentration camp scenes weren't generally available to the general public yet, and gruesome images weren't widely dispersed throughout Western culture yet.
Likewise I agree the narration feels overly judgmental and is likely somewhat inaccurate.
But again "Night and Fog" was released into a very differnt context. Detailed facts about the concentration camps weren't widely known; the Adolph Eichmann trial in Jerusalem was still several years in the future. The facts presented were apparently consistent with what information was available at the time. Discussion of the concentration camps was heavily censored (even "Night and Fog" had to compromise with French censors:-); to say anything at all in public was a real breath of fresh air.
Quite amazing how one post, only 4 lines long, can get so many things so completely wrong. Too much moral judgement passed in the narration? No, the voiceover is rather calm and matter-of-fact. It simply agrees with common beliefs? There are no "beliefs", just facts. The reality as it once was. Nothing extra to think about? What other stuff does this fascist nitwit wish to ponder within the given framework? Narrative was "highly speculative"? Nope. Not even any attempts to "speculate" anything. Merely history visually documented; does this guy even know what "speculative" means? Probably not. One-sided? What other sides are there, for crying out loud? Untrustworthy? Can`t believe your own eyes, can ya? The images were not particularly shocking? How can any imagery even get more harsh than this? Additional layer of cheesy splatter porn needed perhaps.
Mondo Nazi is a f-cked up place, that`s for sure.
"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan
Maybe some day you'll grow a brain.
~ Observe, and act with clarity. ~
Pig ignorant motherfvcker.
I don't think you understood the film. Did you even listen to the last few lines of the film? It's arguing that evil resides in everyone, and that it's pointless to demonize the nazis precisely because it distances you from all their wrongdoing, which was really human wrongdoing, not german wrongdoing or whatever. This is why it's the greatest film on the shoah.
Later that day, after tea... I died, suddenly.
You're right that the film could have been much worse by saying "Nazis are evil" or "Germans are evil" instead of "these types of actions conducted by the Nazis are evil".
It also could have been much better by admitting "evil is relative" or at least "look at the equal number of evils the Allies perpetrated during and after the war".
~ Observe, and act with clarity. ~
The film clearly states that the war has made 11 million deaths, meaning not only the jews. On the other side, it WAS trying to argue that the nazis tried to industrialize their extermination of the jews (remember how indebted Germany was after WWI), which is another strong point of the film. Regarding WW2, evil did start in Germany, I think it's a pretty accepted fact. However, everyone has evil inside of them, which is basically the conclusion of the film. In that sense, the film definitely argued that "evil is relative".
Later that day, after tea... I died, suddenly.
It also could have been much better by admitting "evil is relative" or at least "look at the equal number of evils the Allies perpetrated during and after the war".
Actually the narration culminates in the issue of memory and what each of us does with our memories of the concentration camps and how that relates to responsibility and denial of responsibility. If there's any moral judgement it falls on each of us. The judgement on you is that you are not shocked by what you see. I carry my own judgement, which differs from yours and which I will not disclose.
There have been other 'holocausts' before and since, but society denies them the same status as the holocaust.
A bird sings and the mountain's silence deepens.share