What's this about?

Lately, it seems like many of the movies/shows are just a rehash or reboot of things that have already been done. And so I started to dive into the past. It's been fun, but I find myself losing track of which ones I’ve seen and whether or not I enjoyed them. Sometimes the titles themselves just don't tell me enough to remember.

I wouldn’t have voluntarily watched a lot of these movies when I was younger. It’s strange how interests change. That goes for what I read, too. I have another blog that explores books. I’m mostly reading older fiction and memoirs, and some of the books have led me to movies/shows and vice versa. In those cases, I may post the book review over here as well.

There will be spoilers, which is different than my book reviews. That’s mostly because I want to have enough information to help me remember what I’ve seen. I’m getting older. The brain doesn’t cooperate like it used to. What can I say? The gray hairs are catching up with me!

Sunday, September 24, 2023

From Where They Stood - 2021

This is a documentary covering clandestine photos taken at five of the concentration camps during the Holocaust. I wanted to find a book on the subject, but I wasn't able to find one.

The introduction to the film explains why I watched it: "In Dachau, Buchenwald, Mittelbau-Dora, Ravensbruck and Auschwitz-Birkenau some prisoners managed to take unauthorized photographs. Since they have worked so hard to pass on these images to us, we must look at them."

Christophe Cognet goes to these camps to line up the secret photos with the places they were taken. He blows them up and examines details hidden within the photos. Sometimes he sees things I don't.

The tone of the documentary was eerie. There was no background music (I don't know if that's normal - I don't watch many documentaries), and the pictures were haunting. I liked that they took the time to explain what they knew about the history of the pictures themselves and the people that took them.

On the other hand, there seemed to be a lot of unnecessary filler. For instance, nothing happens for four minutes at the beginning. It shows a rain shower at the beginning (and at the end - I understand why), but it goes on forever. There are also shots of trees that go on for a bit too long. What I'm trying to say is that I don't think this film needed to be two hours.

I don't think "enjoy" is the right word, but I didn't feel the time (unless it was one of the pauses). It was in French, but the subtitles were easy to read and didn't interfere with me having time to watch the screen at the same time. I'm glad I watched this film, and I learned a lot. Good Documentary!



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