Shoah (1985)

The core of Claude Lanzmann's Shoah (the Hebrew word for chaos/devastation) is comprised of various interviews with two groups of people. In the first group, there are Holocaust survivors. They are elderly people living in different countries around the world. In the second group, there are people that witnessed some of the most horrific crimes the Nazis committed during WWII. There are also people that helped other people commit these crimes.

The manner in which the interviews are conducted is simple. Accompanied by a translator, Lanzmann asks questions that encourage the people in front of his camera to remember. The interviews with the survivors are fascinating but frequently very difficult to watch. Some of the elderly men can barely talk – often the pain they feel while remembering is so overwhelming that some of them can only utter a few words before they begin crying; others simply remain silent.

Occasionally, Lanzmann's encouraging words seem incredibly cruel. For example, early into the film, he interviews Michael Podchlebnik, a survivor of the Chelmno camp, whose reactions confuse him – the man smiles while he recalls the crimes he witnessed years ago. Then, encouraged by Lanzmann, he explains why he smiled and how for years he struggled to forget the past and tears quickly fill up his eyes. In just a few minutes the man has become unrecognizable – his hands are shaking, his face looks pale, his voice trembles.

There are other long interviews with villagers in Poland, some of whom saw the Nazis transport Jewish prisoners to Treblinka. What they share in front of Lanzmann's camera is just as disturbing. Apparently, in the beginning, there were villagers that could not possibly imagine what the Nazis had planned. They saw the trains coming in but lived their lives as if nothing had changed. Then, after they began realizing what was underway, they were forced to continue living as if nothing had changed – and many did, but now many of them knew that people were routinely exterminated in the gas chambers. The villagers' bizarre recollections belong to some of the most intense interviews in the entire film.

There are also interviews with people who were on the opposite side, people who knew very well that they were helping the killers. Arguably the most illumining one is with SS man Franz Suchomel, who agreed to do an audio interview but was secretly filmed by Lanzmann. He was at Treblinka when people started entering the gas chambers. His descriptions are dry, often quite uneven, incredibly disturbing.MS-CC

The overwhelming majority of the material gathered by Lanzmann in this truly epic 566-minute film is undoubted of tremendous importance, but there are also many questions in it that should not have been asked. Lanzmann's persistence to get the most out of the men and women in front of his camera frequently feels disrespectful, at times even borderline manipulative. There are some memories that do not belong in any film, regardless of how noble its intent might have been.

Ultimately, however, Shoah is a tremendously important film that should be seen by everyone. In the increasingly unstable world we live today, and with the horrors of Bosnia, Darfur and Rwanda still fresh in our minds, it is an indisputable fact that its message is still relevant.

Note: In 1986, Shoah won FIPRESCI Prize, OCIC Award - Honorable Mention Award, and Caligari Film Award at the Berlin International Film Festival.