Nuit et brouillard (1956)'s comments

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Timec

It's probably considered a documentary masterpiece because of the fact that it manages to do in 30 minutes what few films (documentary or fiction) are able to do in four or five (or seven) times that length - there's a lot to be said for brevity, and this film manages to pack an enormous amount of power into its time length and never seems like it's misrepresenting or lessening the true horrors of the Holocaust.

It may also have to do with the fact that it's so very concise - it doesn't try to tackle the entirety of the Nazi machine, and it's better off for it. One still comes away with an incredibly clear view of how horrible human beings can be.

There have been a lot of Holocaust films made since, but few have had its power or immediacy. In 55 years of Holocaust filmmaking since, only "Shoah" has surpassed it.

Unlike so many other films on this important subject, it doesn't cop out. It doesn't interject personal stories or John Williams-esque scores - it simply relies on the inherent horror and tragedy of the subject to make us see and to make us feel. It's not "just not another Holocaust film" - I use that phrase not to suggest that the Holocaust itself could ever be a tired subject, but merely to point out that a lot of filmmakers seem to choose the subject as a shortcut to accomplish their goal of making an Important Film. They bombard us with overly sentimental, overly manipulative stories that are weirdly comforting to the audience – even as they present us with absolute horror they provide a nice emotional catharsis, cause us to think “Oh, it could never happen again” and then the audience feels better after the movie than they did before it started. That’s why so many people can now see a preview for the next Holocaust film and roll their eyes at yet another Oscar-bait film about a Very Important Subject – we’ve become inured to what should always be a raw and visceral reminder of man’s inhumanity.

But “Night and Fog” is different. It distinguishes itself by refusing to give us any comfort, by refusing to rely on cheap emotionalism. Its relentless narrative and carefully selected footage builds to a work of enormous, overwhelming resonance and power. It doesn’t offer comfort, it doesn’t allow us to distance ourselves from what we are seeing – it masterfully combines all the elements of the documentary form to blur the line between past and present, and to move and horrify even the most inured viewers.

So yeah - that's what makes it a documentary masterpiece. That's what makes it one of the two most visceral, groundbreaking, horrifying accounts of one of mankind's greatest atrocities.

12 years 5 months ago

pfluke

Even scarier than this amazing documentary is the fact that some people claim that all of this never happened.

13 years 2 months ago

jhhayes

A very disturbing view of the most evil and darkest side of humanity. Although horrific, everyone should see this film.

12 years 9 months ago

Typically Thomas

The most powerful film about the Holocaust I've ever seen. How can a human, of any kind, believe that this horrid kind of slaughter is justified. No man believes himself to be evil, and we all rationalize our darkest deeds. How can anyone do so while holding several removed heads at once? I am shocked by this movie. Really important film!

6 years 9 months ago

CarcamanoFerreto

A brief documentary, a collection of chilling images that will make you wonder: "how could they had done such thing?"
It is one of those films that everyone should watch and question what are the limits of human perversity.
Powerful, disturbing and historically important. Nuit et brouillard is a necessary film.

8 years 7 months ago

TalkingElvish

Half an hour that stays with you forever.

13 years 3 months ago

swhaze

I really appreciate this film's intention and purpose. It is something that everyone should probably see at least once. I honestly don't think I have ever been exposed to a short film that is so raw, yet tastefully and stunningly done. With that said, some of those images will probably haunt me for the remainder of my life.

7 years 2 months ago

ClassicLady

Seeing the faces of people I'd only known before as "the masses" was shocking and eye opening. It is horrible how no one is or can be blamed for this atrocity. Although blame won't make it better or bring those people back. It is a horrible, dark period in human history that will live with us forever. This movie reminds us we should never underestimate the evil lurking in man.

9 years 10 months ago

Ezio

Highly inappropriate music. But anyway a touching and shocking movie with rare footage that leaves you breathless.

12 years 10 months ago

vibranium

https://vimeo.com/189672641

(linked Feb 2018, English subtitles)

6 years 2 months ago

Egil

Very powerful indeed. I felt both sick and sad through this horrifying, yet important movie.

12 years 8 months ago

Eddyspeeder

The power of this documentary is that it is very complete in its telling about the Nazi destructional machine. I have visited Auschwitz and spent one day at Anlagen (concentration camp, now a museum) and another at Birkenau (destruction camp, left untouched) with a guided tour. This half-our piece covers nearly everything I've learnt in those two days; the only thing this documentary did not cover extensively is that the ashes from the crematoria "snowed down" on both the camp and its surroundings, as you can see in Schindler's List.

I think the documentary makers consciously chose not to include the survivors' stories to leave out any personal interpretation, just as they do not answer the question who is responsible. They just wanted you to know the sickening, gruesome, and harsh truths. Perhaps it may help you prepare for visiting a concentration camp, because seeing it for yourself will add a personal dimension to it.

12 years 12 months ago

Windill

Disturbing.

8 years ago

Warrison

Powerful.

12 years 11 months ago

kathulu

"Je ne suis pas responsable"

As are the words of the SS officers in the post-war trials, depicted here, in this painful, true, terrific documentary, narrated by Jean Cayrol, French poet and camp survivor.

My French is shabby, and I saw this film without subtitles. But seeing it like this gave me a powerful jolt to the chest none the less, in a way like the dialogue-less "Koyaanisqatsi" has the ability to do. Except this 34 minute documentary is visceral. It depicts the revolting, unimaginable, heinous crimes beyond human comprehension, committed in the German concentration camps during WWII. It spares no expense and ruthlessly shows you everything you don't want to see.

As the movie starts with its "peaceful landscape of a meadow", I am immediately transported back to when I visited Auschwitz myself more than 10 years ago, fully prepared, and yet absolutely not prepared at all for what I was about to see.

The music is eerily unsettling and nothing what so ever alike the pathos and melodrama we are used to today, most famously, of course, almost forced upon us by John Williams in "Schindler's List." I might be one of the biggest John Williams fans in the world, but a topic like the Holocaust is not one that needs orchestral support to be heard and understood.

This movie must be seen just like any war memorial must be visited. It will hurt, it will make you sick, and it is necessary.

6 months 2 weeks ago