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Movies Forum Index » General Movies Forum » The one serious subject Hollywood doesn't avoid
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| George B. |
 Posted: Fri Mar 05, 2004 7:04 pm |
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The one serious subject Hollywood doesn't avoid
[GB: Holocaust is religious vocabulary, referring to a burned
offering. In the following it stands for the often propagated thesis
of 'extermination of Jews by the Germans during WW2' allegedly by
homicidal gassings. The article deals with movies (made by people
usually dedicated to the production of fictious entertainment movies
like ET, Poltergeist or Star Wars) relating to that theme. followed by
a posting dealing with Mel Gibson's movie "The Passion of the Christ"]
See also: http://www.adelaideinstitute.org/Conference/sacramento143.htm
More than 170 films about the Holocaust have been made since 1989. Six
more are out this fall.
By David Sterritt | Film critic of The Christian Science Monitor
At a time when fantasies, comedies, and frivolous fare dominate the
movie marketplace, films on serious subjects often seem like an
endangered cultural species. Yet one utterly serious event - arguably
the gravest of the past century - retains strong relevance for
filmmakers and audiences.
This is the Holocaust, with the evidence it contained of a bestial
inhumanity lurking at the heart of contemporary life.
One sign of ongoing interest in Holocaust films is the arrival of four
new movies on the subject in American theaters during the next two
months: "The Pianist" and "Amen." dramatize true experiences; "Max" is
historical fiction; and "Blind Spot - Hitler's Secretary" is a
documentary.
Another sign is the publication of Annette Insdorf's definitive book
"Indelible Shadows: Film and the Holocaust" in a new edition next
month.
The author discusses no fewer than 170 films that have been made or
rediscovered since the last edition in 1989.
"I could have devoted a whole new book to the recent titles alone,"
said Ms. Insdorf in a recent interview.
Although the new films were made before the terrorist attacks of Sept.
11, they may be viewed more attentively by moviegoers because of that
day's tragic events. "We are still reeling from the approximately
3,000 people killed on 9/11," notes Insdorf, "but we should recall
that this is the approximate number of Jews killed every single day
for around five years during the Holocaust."
Films on the Holocaust have existed since World War II, first
attracting wide US interest when newsreel footage of liberated death
camps appeared in theaters.
Hollywood began tackling the subject in earnest with Stanley Kramer's
epic "Judgment at Nuremberg" in 1961, and Steven Spielberg renewed its
impact for a new generation with "Schindler's List" in 1993, earning
his first Oscar for best director.
Filmmakers have taken on Holocaust themes for many reasons, including
personal ties to the subject or a wish to explore their own Jewish
roots. Mr. Spielberg has said he thought of dealing with the Holocaust
long before he directed "Schindler's List," but purposefully delayed
this until he felt he had grown enough as a filmmaker to do the
subject justice.
Insdorf's study of Holocaust films has revealed growth and change
since World War II. "Movies made during or just after the war often
show a belief in interfaith solidarity," she observes. By contrast,
Holocaust movies of the '50s and '60s usually focus "on Jewish victims
and Nazi villains, establishing basic facts of deportation and
extermination."
Later releases like "Schindler's List" tend to concentrate on
"resistance and rescue," in Insdorf's words. Darkly humorous films
like Roberto Benigni's popular "Life Is Beautiful" and the Robin
Williams comedy "Jakob the Liar" constitute another trend.
Also present are stories such as "The Pawnbroker" and "Shine,"
portraying survivors as mentally damaged by the torments they've
undergone. Insdorf finds these "problematic" because of the
stereotypes they suggest.
Why do Holocaust films have enduring interest, decades after the
Holocaust took place?
"Holocaust films provide all the melodramatic scenarios that have huge
popular appeal," says Harvey Roy Greenberg, a psychoanalyst and film
scholar. "They have heroism and villainy, rescue and survival, voyages
from terror to safety, sacrifice for redemptive causes, religious
issues, love among the ruins. And these are all magnified 10,000 times
because of the extremity of the situation."
The fact that most Holocaust films are made for entertainment purposes
doesn't mean they're lacking in social value. "Speaking from the heart
as a Jew," says Mr. Greenberg, "I think Holocaust films should be
shown as often as possible. Historical memory is very short, and
there's a great rebirth of fascism, fundamentalism, and anti-Semitism
in the world."
At the moment, films on Holocaust themes are thriving. "The Believer,"
about a contemporary neo-Nazi, and "The Grey Zone," set in a
concentration camp, opened earlier this year. Others will arrive in
coming weeks.
• "The Pianist," directed by Roman Polanski, is based on concert
pianist Wladyslaw Szpilman's book about his experiences in Warsaw.
Played by Adrien Brody, the protagonist lives in the infamous Warsaw
ghetto, escapes deportation to a death camp, and survives in hiding as
Nazis occupy his beleaguered city. It won the highest prize at the
Cannes film festival.
Mr. Polanski has close connections to this story. He escaped from the
Krakow ghetto as a child, lost much of his family to Nazi brutality,
and reportedly turned down the opportunity to direct "Schindler's
List" because he felt filming on location in Krakow would be too
emotionally painful.
• "Amen." looks closely at the Vatican's failure to take an
uncompromising stance against Nazi genocide. Based on Roch Hochhuth's
controversial play "The Deputy," it tells a sweeping story with two
central characters. One is a young German engineer who joins the Nazi
ranks, motivated by patriotism and duty. The other protagonist is a
young Jesuit priest who strives to make his superiors hear and heed
the German's urgent message, running into resistance at almost every
step.
• "Max" explores the roots of the Holocaust in the demented ideas of
the Nazi Party - and just as crucially, in the overall nature of
German culture after World War I. John Cusack plays a Jewish art
dealer who fought for Germany in the war. Returning to Munich, he
befriends an eccentric artist named Adolf Hitler, thinking he can
moderate the young man's anti-Semitic attitudes by encouraging him to
stick with his painting career.
• "Blind Spot - Hitler's Secretary" continues the imposing lineup of
Holocaust documentaries. It presents an interview with Traudl Junge,
who worked for the dictator and resided in his fortified bunker. Ms.
Junge, who refused to share her memories for many years, is strikingly
candid, acknowledging Hitler's personal charm and confessing her
complete failure to grasp the true evil of his activities.
Not all of the new Holocaust movies are free from controversy, as the
debate over "Max" illustrates. Insdorf calls the film a "provocative
drama ... with wonderful performances."
Taking a different view, Jewish Defense League spokesman Brett Stone
writes on the organization's website that the film is "a psychic
assault on Holocaust survivors and the entire Jewish community,"
fearing the film's portrait of Hitler as a young, idiosyncratic artist
will serve to "glorify or humanize him in moviegoers' eyes."
Remarks like these continue a line of discussion that has gone on for
decades among commentators on Holocaust films. Some feel any
reproduction of Holocaust material risks giving some degree of
aesthetic pleasure to those who view it.
One such critic is Susan Sontag, who wrote in 1980, "The display of
atrocity in the form of photographic evidence risks being tacitly
pornographic." Some makers of Holocaust documentaries, such as Claude
Lanzmann in "Shoah," refuse to present "atrocity footage" at all.
While they may take different forms and spark debates, Holocaust
movies will continue to pour from directors who respect the potential
of film for keeping the past alive and staving off callousness in the
present. "The Holocaust not only provides a dramatic context [for
stories]," Insdorf says, "but cautionary tales, as well. A sad basic
fact that connects World War II to our own time is indifference."
See also: http://www.adelaideinstitute.org/Conference/sacramento143.htm
----- Original Message -----
From: news@catholicleague.org
To: News ; Release ; Recipient
Sent: Wednesday, March 03, 2004 9:19 AM
Subject: ADL "PASSION" GUIDE FOR TEENS IS FLAWED
ADL "PASSION" GUIDE FOR TEENS IS FLAWED
The ADL has issued an online guide, Things Teens Should Know about Mel
Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ." Most of it is fair enough, but
not when it comes to the issue of whether the film accurately reflects
Church teachings. Of the Gibson movie, the guide says, "His film does
not adhere to these [Vatican II's] guidelines."
Catholic League president William Donohue disagrees:
"The ADL has failed in a) altering the movie's script b) getting the
Vatican to denounce the movie c) getting the U.S. bishops to denounce
the film, and d) getting a postscript. Now it is instructing the
public that ‘The Passion of the Christ' contravenes Church teachings.
We're getting used to the chutzpah, but the ADL's latest salvo
deserves an answer.
"The movie has been heralded by such Catholic heavyweights as Pope
John Paul II (yes, he did say, ‘It is as it was'); Cardinal Dario
Castrillón Hoyos, Prefect of the Congregation for Clergy; Most
Reverend John Foley, President of the Pontifical Council for Social
Communications; Reverend Augustine Di Noia, Undersecretary of the
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith; Cardinal Francis George,
Archbishop of Chicago; Cardinal George Pell, Archbishop of Sydney,
Australia; Most Reverend Charles Chaput, Archbishop of Denver; Most
Reverend John Donoghue, Archbishop of Atlanta; Reverend Richard John
Neuhaus, Editor-in-Chief, First Things; Reverend Thomas Rosica, CEO,
Salt and Light Catholic Media Foundation; and theologian Michael
Novak.
"According to the ADL, all these authorities are wrong. Do those at
the ADL really think anyone will believe them?
"Finally, let's put one thing to rest: 1965 was not the first time the
Catholic Church condemned collective guilt of the Jews for the death
of Christ. Indeed, the Catechism that the ADL so likes on this
subject quotes a passage from the Council of Trent that also condemns
collective guilt. And it was written in the mid-1500s!"
Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights
450 Seventh Ave
New York, NY 10123
(212) 371-3191
(212) 371-3394 (Fax)
www.catholicleague.org
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