Product Description

Shoah is Claude Lanzmann's landmark documentary meditation on the Holocaust. Assembled from footage shot by the filmmaker during the 1970s and 1980s, it investigates the genocide at the level of experience: the geographical layout of the camps and the ghettos; the daily routines of imprisonment; the inexorable trauma of humiliation, punishment, extermination; and the fascinating insights of those who experienced these events first hand. The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present, for the first time on DVD in the UK, this 550-minute masterpiece in a four-disc set with a 180-page book.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #22076 in DVD
• Released on: 2007-02-19
• Rating: Exempt
• Formats: Box set, PAL, Dolby
• Original language: English, French
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 4
• Running time: 550 minutes

Synopsis
This stunning documentary sheds light on one of the darkest hours in the history of mankind - the Holocaust. The entire program relies solely on the filmed testimony of Holocaust witnesses. Produced and directed by Claude Lanzmann. Portions of the program are subtitled. Acclaimed as the best Holocaust film, and one of the greatest films ever made.

From the Back Cover
Shoah is Claude Lanzmann’s landmark documentary meditation on the Holocaust. Assembled from footage shot by the filmmaker during the 1970s and 1980s, it investigates the genocide at the level of experience: the geographical layout of the camps and the ghettos; the daily routines of imprisonment; the inexorable trauma of humiliation, punishment, extermination; and the fascinating insights of those who experienced these events first hand. Absent from the film is any imagery shot at the time the Holocaust occurred. There is only Lanzmann and his crew, filming in private spaces and now-dormant zones of eradication to extract testimony from a series of survivors, witnesses, and oppressors alike. Through his relentless questioning (aided on occasion by hidden camera), Lanzmann is able to coax out material of unparalleled emotional truth that constitutes both precious oral history and withering indictment.

Customer Reviews

Memory is all
There have been many dramas and documentaries of what happened in the death camps of WWII but put altogether they would not cut as deeply or inform so completely as 'Shoah'.
Covering in particular Chelmno,(where Jews were 1st killed by gas in vans), to Treblinka, Auschwitz, Birkenau and the Warsaw ghetto Lanzemann does not embellish or re-enact anything, he simply films as survivors, perpertrators and bystanders all tell how they see what happened. I say see and not saw because many have convinced themselves of their own innocence by dismissing what happened. It is for this reason that 'Shoah' needs to be so long in running time, everyone has their own skewed perspective for whatever reason and it is only when enough evidence is gathered from so many differing sides and personalities that you can begin to see a little of what happened.
Bystanders who had rather seen the Jews returned to Israel but were glad to see them go nonetheless, guards "following orders" and a general apathy to one of humanities greatest crimes.
At over 9 hours this is a huge work and requires you to sit through heartbreaking interviews over and over again.
The truth is though that in a society where we are becoming jealous and resentful of those who are not us or do not believe what we do this account is a stark reminder of just how quickly and terribly humans can turn on each other on a massive scale if we allow ourselves to de-humanize others.
I love films but I cannot think of a single other that HAS to be seen. This is without peer and is essential.

The Definite Word
This film is a major work of love by the director, spending years tracing and sometimes secretly filming interviews. Yes, at times the quality of the filming is poor but the nature of the subject doesnt need HD quality as this is about the people effected. Made up of personal memories only this does not include any footage from the horrendous times. Then again, watching the peoples faces as they speak is all you need to comprehend, in only a small way, the horrors they faced.

Compulsive, Heartbreaking Viewing - We Must Never Forget.
The previous reviews have said everything that is necessary on this sublime documentary which interviews those on both sides of the "Jewish Question" in Europe during WW2. But I want to make special mention of one moment which haunts me after viewing.

An elderly man is singing a catchy song. The tune is simple - sort of thing children could sing round a camp fire or on a school bus outing - but as the words appear on screen the viewer realises the song is about Treblinka extermination camp. The words refer to Treblinka being "my destiny" and how they are "marching forwards". The man singing the song is former Nazi camp guard. The Jewish prisoners had to learn the song and be able to sing it by the end of their first day in the camp.

Shocking, casual cruelty, which makes it all the more unspeakably chilling.

On the other hand there is some humour in this 4 disc film - mostly from the wonderful Auschwitz escapee Rudolf Vrba - who comments that the sytem relied on the Jews moving everywhere quickly. "We had to run from the train, run to the ramp, run to the undressing room, run to the showers" he pauses and with a twinkle in his eye which lifts the mood he adds "well, they are a very SPORTY nation....".

This film is not an easy watch, but it should be a compulsory watch, in my opinion, as ordinary men and women recount the horrors of the Nazi final solution in their own words - breaking down in tears as some speak for the first and only time in their lives for the benefit of future generations.