Shoah

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Dave S While it may not be the best documentary ever made, Shoah is most certainly the most impactful and the most important, as well as being remarkably timely when one considers the age in which we are living. Claude Lanzmann's horrifying epic, clocking in at over 9 hours, consists primarily of interviews with survivors, witnesses, and perpetrators of the Holocaust. Despite the intimidating running time, the film is compelling from start to finish, never shying away from the horrors of its subject, a sickening and stomach-churning viewing experience, but a viewing experience that needs to be seen. If there is one complaint, it is the use of the subtitles – too often, subtitles are provided for the interpreter's response to the subject's answer instead of simply providing the subtitles for the subject's response, effectively doubling the length of the interview, a problem considering the already considerable length of the film. Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 04/03/24 Full Review S R 1001 movies to see before you die. It took a long time to find this, but fortunately it turned up on YouTube. It is such an amazing accomplishment to have such an expansive, in depth view of the holocaust. It felt like it was incomplete and I was often a little confused to the structure. Regardless, I learned so much and appreciate this 10 year project. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 10/24/23 Full Review william d Don't expect to learn why the Germans did what they did. There is no discussion of Nazi ideology here. What you will learn is what the Nazis did and the effect it had on its victims. It is both horrifying and mesmerizing at the same time. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member A masterpiece of filmmaking , A story which demands to be told and one which makes us remember how a whole generation was very nearly wiped out . The film will leave you breathless and keep you thinking for days afterwards. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 03/10/22 Full Review William L Prolonged and harrowing, but a film that needed to be made and one that needed to be made within a certain timeframe to record the perspectives of eyewitnesses from all sides but with enough time elapsed to digest the atrocities that they either suffered or perpetrated. Lanzmann is uncompromising in his willingness to press for detail, both to recreate events without the assistance of contemporary sources and to gradually lead his subjects to confront experiences that they are often very reluctant to recall, but that posterity demands. Though some might criticize it as an unnecessary addition to an already prolonged runtime, holding back subtitles with respect to dialogue that he himself does not understand is a brilliant design element, one that forces the audience to inhabit Lanzmann's own degree of separation from his interview subjects, one that is only compounded by the pain of the subject matter. A powerful and very important record of one of the most vile events to have been designed in the course of human history, and one of the most emotional documentaries ever made. (5/5) Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/01/21 Full Review Audience Member Excellent documentary that exposes the horrors of the death camps from various perspectives. This needed to be done. Thank you to all the participants that opened up to share their stories and people that made this project happen. I do think that Lanzmann put words into people's mouths at times though. Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/18/23 Full Review Read all reviews

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