Night and Fog

 

 

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Alain Resnais's short, lasting a mere 31 minutes, is justifably famous as the first film to explore the Holocaust after the Second World War (it was released in 1955). More than just a depiction of the events, the film primarily concerned with the filmmaker's inability to convey the historical reality of the event. The colorful scenes Resnais shot of the abandoned camps are contrasted with horrific black-and-white images of Nazi brutality - decapitated skulls gathered in a bucket, a mountain of womens' hair, the living skeletons of the newly-liberated camps - and Resnais asks himself (and us): how can we possibly comprehend, in the safety of being a spectator, the immeasurable inhumanity and suffering of this event? What would it profit us or history as a whole even if we could? Would it really prevent human atrocities from recurring?

The film is best seen as a philosophical exploration rather than a history lesson - indeed, if you don't know at least the key events of the Nazi Regime, you'll find Resnais' elisions confusing. It is still a potent and unsettling film and, within its mere 31 minutes, opened up questions about artistic responsibility and representation that persist today about the Holocaust and other filmed depictions of human atrocities.

Several reviewers have already spoken of the powerful impact of this film as a document of the terrible atrocities of the Holocaust. What is perhaps most remarkable about this film (and that most reviews here have not remarked upon) is that it does not aim to reconstruct a past that is impossible to imagine, but to document the traces this past has left behind for the present, and to suggest that this unimaginable past is nevertheless not so far off. However difficult it may be to imagine being involved in such events (whether as victim or perpetrator) it is nevertheless true that those who were involved are not so very different than ourselves.

In other words, this is not just a straightforward documentary depicting the horrors of the Holocaust. It does that and does so in a way that is very powerful. But what makes the film distinctive is the way in which it raises questions, most insistently the question whether such horrors might be repeated. The film's major contention is that it is very easy to think that events like the Holocaust could never happen again -- that they are singular events and that the people who perpetrated them are monsters, unlike "us" -- but that this perception is a mistake. Many of the individuals involved in the horrible atrocities of the Holocaust were quite ordinary folk who loved their families. The point is that even your next door neighbor or anyone, under the right pressures, in situations where those they harmed had been dehumanized, could potentially also do such things.

The events at Abu Ghraib (and other contemporary atrocities) should remind that people we would otherwise think of as decent, upstanding, citizens are capable of horrible and repulsive actions. That the events in Abu Ghraib did not reach the scale of the events documented in this film seems to be a matter of degree and organization, but not a difference in kind. The film is perhaps more relevant and powerful today than ever. (This remark is not intended, of course, to minimize the scale and horror of the Holocaust; or to suggest that the systematic and planned massive scale genocide that took place in Auschwitz and other sites is on par with the contemporary practices of torture that appear much less systematic; still: that American citizen soldiers who by all accounts from friends and relations seemed like decent folk could find themselves able to participate willingly or even under some coercion or pressure in such horrible and degrading practices as were engaged in at Abu Ghraib and likely Guantanamo and other camps as well, is an indication that the cautionary remarks that end this film are still important).

This was a great documentary. I will never forget the images that were shown in this documentary. The style the director used with the archive was great; I felt a huge amount of sadness for the lives lost while watching the present day archive. The technique and style of how he put everything together kept my eyes glued to the television the entire time. The reality of what happened at those camps was so gruesome that it made me want to cry.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Moving
I was in a Holocaust literature class in college this past semester, and this film was shown. It was so powerful and moving. Read more

Published on May 13 2004

4.0 out of 5 stars Affecting, but somewhat disappointing as well
Let me start by saying that this documentary will have an effect on the viewer. I would not recommend it to young children or those that are hyper-sensitive to photos of the... Read more

Published on April 7 2004 by M. Briscoe

5.0 out of 5 stars Powerful Documentary
Resnais' Night and Fog is an example of the pure power of image. There is no comfort zone of actors and special effects between the viewer and the movie, it is all real. Read more

Published on Jan 26 2004 by jordan

5.0 out of 5 stars A Tragic Account & Brilliant Documentary...
Night and Fog is a short documentary that depicts Nazi concentration camps in a brutal manner that will not leave anyone untouched. Read more

Published on Jan 10 2004 by Kim Anehall

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful horror
I watched Night and Fog this morning.
It's about the Holocaust and was filmed only ten years after liberations of the camps. Read more

Published on Nov 21 2003 by Jamescush

5.0 out of 5 stars I'm still speechless
One of my professors showed us this film as part of his history lecture today, and all the images and realities. Read more

Published on Nov 19 2003 by Eimi Star

5.0 out of 5 stars A film that needs to be seen
Alain Resnais Night and Fog is a film that needs to be seen by as many people as possible. This documentary short is more an essay on the nature of man than an exploration of the... Read more

Published on Oct 13 2003 by Bryan A. Pfleeger

5.0 out of 5 stars brilliant and moving
Not to be missed. This should be required viewing for everyone. Those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it. My god, let's hope not. Read more

Published on Sep 15 2003

5.0 out of 5 stars Night And Fog--will give you chills,provoke your conscious
I have seen a lot of Holocaust movies, but never has one moved me as much as this one. Caution--it is ver graphic, but sometimes the truth can be that way. Read more

Published on Aug 26 2003 by A.M.

5.0 out of 5 stars Night and Fog: a must see and essential film
This is one of the most powerful and most graphic films on the Holocaust available, and I would hardly recommend it to younger viewers. Read more

Published on Aug 4 2003 by Daniel D. Vander Haar

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