[exploitative]

This evening, I saw Nuit et brouillard (1955). Since I have read for class that it cannot be analyzed as a film and thus cannot be categorized as a film, I wonder, what can we call it? It's not just a "poetic meditation." (And since when are "poetic meditation" and "film" mutually exclusive?) But I'm getting ahead of myself...

It consists of color sequences of an abandoned concentration camp (which one? where?), filmed presumably in 1954/5 because it is the "present" as far as the film is concerned. These sequences are juxtaposed with archival footage of the construction and day-to-day of the camps as soon as they are filled and later emptied. It lasts only 30 minutes, set to eerie music and a poetic French voice/narrator.

We were warned by the prof that the images would be shocking. Even now. And that they will seem familiar, but I don't ever recall watching a bulldozer scoop up naked, emaciated, dead bodies and dumping them into a large pit. Nor do I remember ever seeing non-SS officers (are they Allies?!) pick up and dump bodies into the pit with their bare hands. Horrific, but still I couldn't cry.

I cry all the time in movies. I don't even wait till the end if something really pulls at me emotionally. But I could not for the life of me cry. I think I teared up once. Even though some of the images were new to my eyes, I still felt like I had seen it all before. I feel like the Holocaust has been drilled into my head because of family lore and classroom lessons I've had throughout my education. I just feel numb. I don't feel connected to it (anymore), except I have to say I was more than likely the only Jew in the auditorium, in the class.

Watching it, I couldn't help thinking, "Who filmed all this footage at the time? For what purpose? For whom?" I feel like if people had seen this at the time, maybe things would have been different. But of course it's the Nazis filming. Why would they want to remember what they've done? Were they going to show it on a big screen to rally people around their cause? I'm sure the average Joe on the strasse would vomit if he saw this. Yes, dein Fuehrer is a fuckin' sicko.

But we have this footage now, because we don't want to forget. It's as if they foresaw that one day, we would want to watch this to study them. Little did the Nazis know that we're studying their inhumanity.

The poem says we can't comprehend the reality that "the deportees" experienced. What does the inclusion of the uncensored archival footage say to that? No, I don't think it's attempting to show any authenticity. It's true we will never comprehend the reality, not even if we visit the sites and have our photos taken of us in front of the gate. Are we smiling? The footage just raises questions of, "well, why did they attempt to show the atrocities?" It's all so exploitative.