Night and Fog (Nuit et Brouillard)

» Sunbear - Resnais film

Hello John,

Saw this film any years ago and (like you say) the images have stayed with me.

During my two-year session in the US Army, I was stationed in Germany. When travelling by rail at night, the train would stop at small stations which were often foggy and mysterious in appearance. I would think of the Resnais film.

It may actually be the best film made. Certainly it is the most intense film, perhaps made even more intense by its compression of the terrible events into such a short time. It sticks in the mind like fragments of lyric poetry, only a lyric for the damned and callous inhumanity of man to man.

Thanks for bringing back these images to my mind in your excellent essay. One should never forget.

Subscribed to your great site and will be back. Many essays that I wish to read here.

Sincerely,
Tom Martin
CE - Caring for the Soul

-- posted by Sunbear

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» janesbit1 - Re: Resnais film

In response to message posted by Sunbear:

Good to hear from others who are also affected by this important film. Those horrific images are certainly unforgettable... as they should be.

-- posted by janesbit1

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» NicholasMeloni - Re: Resnais film

In response to message posted by Sunbear:

This is actually in response to the original post, i just have no idea how to use this website properly. I agree that this film is powerful, but I believe there is, in your review, too much of an emphasis on Resnais handling and the credit he recieves. First, I should point out that this film, in my opinion, was filmed as an anti-war film, not a film to teach people about the Holocaust. If the viewer places his or herself in 1955, it would be very difficult, from the films information, to identify that the images that are mis-en-scene are a result of a war waged almost entirely to eliminate a single race. The images are horrific, but within the language of the film, there is little identification of the exact atrocity. There is, however, a very strong anti-war message. The images are placed in front of the camera in order to show the viewer the horrors of war. My point is, that if one plans to show this film in order to teach about the Holocaust, there must be a thourough understanding that the images that are shown are a result of a brutal campaign by the Nazis to eliminate or murder all peoples they saw as "life unworthy of living" in order to create room for their own race. The images that are shown are those "lives unworthy of living." Resnais is brilliant in offering an anti-war message, but as far as showing that these images are unique to persecution of Jews, and other "lives unworthy of living" the film does not convey a clear enough message. The translations are also a little botched. Long live democracy, diplomacy, and peace...
NM

no big deal, but you spelled Nuremberg wrong, or you could just use Nurnberg..but no h

-- posted by NicholasMeloni

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