No doubt, a still photo has the capability of telling a story in a single frame. The moving images in a film however, are often far more transformative as their multi-sensory nature more fully engages the viewer in a dynamic activity. Recent viewings of “Night and Fog” (1955) and “Survivors of the Holocaust” (1995) support this belief as their respective strengths rely more on their filmmaking components than on the inclusion of archival photographs.
Filmmaker Alain Resnais did not seek out to make a film about the Holocaust. In fact it was with reluctance that he agreed to make “Night and Fog” at the invitation of a national institute in France whose mission was to chronicle the history of WWII. He felt he lacked the firsthand experience with the camps to tell an authentic story but eventually relented when poet and survivor Jean Cayrol was engaged to provide the text for the voiceover narrative that set against an ironically pleasant score, is read in a neutral voice, devoid of emotion and plays a significant role in setting the tone of the film.
If his lack of experience with the subject matter in any way compromises the film, Resnais’ ability to summon emotions by connecting of a series of incidents through a montage is more compelling than an exhaustive viewing of a Holocaust photo album could ever be. While the storytelling is indeed linear in nature, Resnais’ multiple layers of memory and emotion combine to form a carefully crafted memory-piece that serves more as a depiction of the origins of evil and a charge to assume responsibility for what happens in this world than a simple homage to concentration camp victims.
One of the thematic concerns evident in Resnais’ body or work is the change of knowledge and memory over time. When “Night and Fog” was made, the Holocaust was fresh enough in the public’s mind to exempt Resnais from providing a literal and detailed history lesson for the viewer. In time, the Holocaust became lesser known and in some cases was completely denied. By 1995, the Holocaust was again a ripe subject matter for audiences who now shared common reference points as a result of exposure to the Holocaust in history books, films and television documentaries.
Like Resnais, Allan Holzman was similarly engaged by an organization to direct Survivors of the Holocaust. In his case however, the charge made by the USC Shoah Foundation Institute was the first of a three-step process of implementing the organization’s mission to overcome prejudice, intolerance and bigotry – and the suffering they cause – through the educational use of visual history testimonies.
The structure of Survivors of the Holocaust differs from that of “Night and Fog”, not just because it was made for television but because of its larger purpose of being used as a research and educational tool. Constructed of personal testimonies shot primarily in close-up, Survivors of the Holocaust forces the viewer to focus on and listen to the compelling memories of Jews who survived Holocaust encampment.
The strength of these personal testimonies is the sense that some of the stories are being told out loud for the first time and that the memories of the Holocaust remain fresh and accurate, despite the tendency for knowledge and memory to change over time. Add to this the implicit commitment of the storytellers (those providing testimonies as well as the filmmakers and the USC Shoah Foundation Institute) to share their personal histories with hope that intolerance, racism and violence will be banished for all time and Survivors of the Holocaust goes one a step beyond Night and Fog by not merely exposing how Nazis responded to their ‘”Jewish Question” but offering a solution that we should respond to the Nazis’ “Final Solution” with efforts to keep a forgetful world from forgetting.
References
“Night and Fog” (1955)
“Survivors of the Holocaust” (1995)
“Film Art: An Introduction” by David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson
“Nuit et brouillard” by James Leahy
The New York Times television review by Walter Goodman
Personal conversations with Allan Holzman, June Beallor and Michelle Kleinert
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0048434/trivia
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuit_et_brouillard
http://www.thecelebritycafe.com/movies/full_review/86.html
http://www.usc.edu/schools/college/vhi/