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Genocide

Play trailer Poster for Genocide PG Released Mar 14, 1982 1h 22m Documentary Play Trailer Watchlist
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Tomatometer 3 Reviews 79% Popcornmeter 100+ Ratings
Narrated by Orson Welles and Elizabeth Taylor and featuring footage and interviews with survivors from various internment camps, this documentary chronicles the plight of the Jewish people throughout Europe prior to, during and after World War II. The film is a celebration of courage and hope as well as a harrowing glimpse into the social and political climate that eventually led to the Holocaust, one of the greatest moral atrocities of all time.
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Genocide

Critics Reviews

View All (3) Critics Reviews
Stefan Kanfer TIME Magazine In this film, memory and ambition ultimately collide. The 6 million deserve more than dire prophecy and less than an overproduction. Feb 8, 2018 Full Review Danielle Solzman Solzy at the Movies There are many Holocaust documentaries to choose from but Genocide is a solid choice for introducing people to the atrocities. Jan 27, 2022 Full Review Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com This Oscar-nominated documentary, narrated by Orson Welles and Elizabeth Taylor, adds a panel to the growing literature on the Holocaust. Rated: B Aug 4, 2011 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (8) audience reviews
ashley h Genocide is an excellent documentary. It is about the heartbreaking testament to the strength and suffering of the Jewish people. Orson Welles and Elizabeth Taylor did awesome jobs directing this movie. The script is well written. Arnold Schwartzman did a great job directing this movie. I enjoyed watching this motion picture. Genocide is a must see. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member THE BEST documentary on the anti-Semitic treachery that took place. This puts PBS, History Chan, etc, you name it, to shame. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/06/23 Full Review Audience Member Well this is the movie Wiesenhiemer wanted me to watch. So here it is. I find I have a little trouble writing great reviews for documentaries but I'll give it my best shot here. This is only the 4th review (community and critic) for this film on this site. This is a documentary about the history of antisemitism and the holocaust in Nazi Germany. My first thoughts about this film during the first few minutes was that it was put together kinda like a grade school play. The delivery of the dialogue was clunky and it seemed...over-rehearsed. As I'm sure you know, this isn't something that I want at all from a film discussing a subject as important as it is horrifying. However, I do not feel that it continued that way. I am a History education major at UNC (Greeley) and I specialize in Reconstruction to WWII particularly WWII. so I would like to think that I know a thing or two about the Holocaust. I actually learned new things by watching this. It did what a good Holocaust movie does: horrify. It shows what hardships the Jews of Europe had to go through, it showed how they were killed like animals, and worst of all, it showed that the allied leaders such as Roosevelt and Chamberlain did not allow Jews into America and Britain. I am still not sure why that is exactly. But I am sure it is something that the leaders of the world really regret. I know I would. People have posed the question to some (I think myself included) 'would you kill Hitler as a baby?' answer that yourself in the comments, but I say that no, I wouldn't The moment I would have killed Hitler was when he rolled into Austria to annex it for Germany. I would have been on a rooftop with a bazooka to blow that mini-mustached f***** off of the planet. All that to say, this film was a good one. It is not the best Holocaust film that I have seen (not even close) but it was still very good. Final Score: 34/40 Tomatometer rating: 100% with one review Tomatometer rating if my review was added: 100% with 2 reviews. Tomatometer community rating: 31% with 83 ratings (mine included) TRIVIA TIME: 1. The film was originally designed to be presented in a multi-screen format at a Los Angeles museum, with one 35mm projector, two 16mm projectors, and 18 slide projectors. Only after completion was it reformatted to be shown in standard film theaters. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/20/23 Full Review Audience Member Important message somewhat muted by a slick Hollywood approach. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/27/23 Full Review Audience Member This Academy Award winning documentary is extremely moving. There are so many holocaust stories out there, this one is more touching than most. The narration by Elizabeth Taylor and Orson Welles is quite remarkable. It does tend to be a bit over dramatic, but I feel it is necessary to make it?s point. Excellent use of footage from the time. It is so hard to believe all this happened, one of the saddest times in world history. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/18/23 Full Review Audience Member "Genocide" is a brief yet compelling documentary that traces the events leading to the extermination of the Jews during WW II in Europe. The documentary begins with a sobering reminder by the famous Nazi hunter, Simon Wiesenthal to never forget the atrocities perpetrated by humans against humans during that dark period in history that has come to be known as the Shoah or Holocaust. Viewers are initially shown the vibrant social life led by the Jews in Europe, especially in cities such as Warsaw in Poland. The documentary is fast-paced, and due to the short running time, about 83 mins, does not cover all the events in depth, but still makes for a compelling watch. Narrated by both Orson Welles and Elizabeth Taylor, there is a sense of urgency in their narration that mirrors the desperation that the trapped Jews of Europe felt at that time. The most riveting aspect of this documentary for me was the heartwrenching eyewitness testimonies by survivors of the massacres at Babi Yar in the Ukraine, and also the Eishyshok massacre in Lithuania. These testimonies (as read by Elizabeth Taylor) coupled with the graphic photographs of Nazi brutalities made this quite an emotional viewing experience for me (as it is each time I watch a Holocaust drama or documentary). There is also an animated segment in this documentary based on the poem "I Never Saw Another Butterfly" by Pavel Friedman, who was incarcerated in Theresienstadt during WW II. It's a pity that the DVD of this documentary has been discontinued by the manufacturer. I believe that it would be a good teaching resource for high school to college age history students. It's still available as a rental on online DVD rental sites. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/25/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Genocide

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Cast & Crew

Movie Info

Synopsis Narrated by Orson Welles and Elizabeth Taylor and featuring footage and interviews with survivors from various internment camps, this documentary chronicles the plight of the Jewish people throughout Europe prior to, during and after World War II. The film is a celebration of courage and hope as well as a harrowing glimpse into the social and political climate that eventually led to the Holocaust, one of the greatest moral atrocities of all time.
Director
Arnold Schwartzman
Producer
Arnold Schwartzman, Marvin Hier
Screenwriter
Arnold Schwartzman, Marvin Hier, Martin Gilbert
Production Co
Moriah Films
Rating
PG
Genre
Documentary
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Mar 14, 1982, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Mar 27, 2017
Runtime
1h 22m
Sound Mix
Surround
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