Today is Yom HaShoah, or Holocaust Remembrance Day. Commemoration takes
many forms, from synagogue services and the recitation of the Kaddish to
candlelight vigils to — according to Wikipedia — the “viewing of a
Holocaust-themed film.” In my opinion, the final cinematic word on the
subject is 1985’s Shoah, Claude Lanzmann’s 550-minute-long
documentary that uses nothing but survivor and eyewitness interviews to
tell the story of the Nazis’ systematic extermination of European Jewry.
In case that isn’t your cup of tea, there are some decent fictional film
accounts: Europa, Europa, The Pianist, or
Costa-Gravas’ Amen, but if movie-watching is going to be part
of your remembrance, please avoid the following:
5. The Reader (2008)
Not content to exploit the suffering of Jews for box-office profit,
Hollywood now has to expand their narrative scope to make the Nazis
sympathetic, including Kate Winslet’s character, whose culpability in
the murder of 300 Jewish women is apparently secondary to
her…inability to read. And while I love Winslet, it’s hard not to
think about this Extras sketch — in which she outlines her
strategy for winning an Academy Award — while watching her accept the
Best Actress Oscar.
4. Mr. Death: The Rise and Fall of Fred A. Leuchter, Jr. (1999)
Just to clarify, Earl Morris’ documentary about Fred A. Leuchter Jr.
isn’t a “bad” film per se (though it’s far from his best), but
the depiction of Leuchter’s transformation from a guy who redesigns
“inhumane” electric chairs and gas chambers into one of the cornerstones
in the Holocaust revisionist movement (Ernst Zundel and David Irving
both make loathsome appearances) is maddening. Is he a sociopath or
merely a dupe? And do we care, in the end, after the damage has been
done?
3. The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (2008)
If you’re that interested in a movie about the Holocaust from a
children’s perspective, go rent Louis Malle’s Au Revoir Les
Enfants, which does the job without being overwrought and
manipulative.
2. The Day the Clown Cried (1972)
Fine, it’s never been released, which would seem to make it hard to
judge so harshly. However I have read the screenplay, and after I
recovered from the aneurysm it spontaneously grew in my brain, I
realized Jerry Lewis had created a film so bad it could potentially
bring civilization to its knees. I immediately joined the Bilderberg
Group and we — together with the Rand Corporation and the
reverse-vampires — have kept it from seeing the light of day for almost
40 years. You’re welcome.
1. Life is Beautiful (1998)
Thanks to Roberto Benigni’s Oscar-winning tale, I now realize
concentration camps were bucolic places, where prisoners could wander
freely, harsh reality never intruded, and escape from humanity’s worst
nightmare is possible if you just believe hard enough. I half
expected Benigni to break the fourth wall and ask everybody to clap to
save Joshua. (see also Robin Williams’ insufferable Jakob
the Liar.)
This article appears in Apr 16-22, 2009.
