The Commandant's Shadow (2024)
The descendants of a Nazi officer and an Auschwitz survivor unite in this painful but intriguing documentary
7.0
Movie
Germany, Israel
English, German
Documentary, History, War
2024
DANIELA VÖLKER
Adolf Hitler, Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, Hans-Jürgen Höss
103 min
7.0
The Staff
TLDR
You’d think we know better than to repeat the genocide of a people, but here we are.
What it's about
The documentary follows the son and grandson of the infamous Auschwitz commandant Rudolf Höss and parallels their lives and memories with that of Auschwitz survivor Anita Lasker-Wallfisch and her daughter Maya.
The take
If you’ve seen the bone-chilling Oscar-winning film The Zone of Interest, then The Commandant's Shadow isn’t just supplementary but necessary viewing. It interviews and interrogates the son of SS officer Rudolf Höss, who describes his childhood in Auschwitz as “idyllic,” and parallels his life with that of an Auschwitz survivor and her family. They’re not asked “gotcha” questions, though there are some moments where Höss’s family members’ insularity shocks you. Instead, everyone is given the time and space to reflect honestly about the pain and trauma that continues to live on in their families. It’s a difficult film to sit through, but insightful and ever-so-resonant in an age where mass torture and genocide continue in many parts of the world.
What stands out
As David Ehrlich puts in his review, let’s just hope the “Never Again” mantra isn’t “weaponized into its own form of forgetting,” and that it applies to other races who are on the receiving end of it too.
Comments
Add a comment
Your nameYour comment
UP NEXT
UP NEXT
UP NEXT
Curated by humans, not algorithms.
© 2024 agoodmovietowatch, all rights reserved.