A Film Unfinished 2010

    In 1942, more than two years after Nazi troops herded Poland's Jews into a ghetto in Warsaw, a few cameramen were sent to shoot material that was intended to be a German propaganda film.  They filmed scenes of daily life and horrific moments of death and despair.  The film was never completed, without a soundtrack and after the war the unedited footage was discovered in a German archive.  The unfinished German propaganda film titled Das Ghetto was taken two months before the inhabitants were removed from the ghetto.  Five survivors are interviewed and they talk about the film and their lives in the ghetto.   This film became a resource for historians seeking an authentic record.  There is also an elaborate propagandist construction to the film.  A later discovery of a reel that had been missing for a long time complicated earlier interpretations.  This reel shows the manipulations by the camera crews in the supposedly everyday scenes.  There are pictures of wealthy Jews attending elegant dinners and theatrical performances.  They now appear as unwilling but also complicit actors.  They are alternately fearful and also in denial of their own fates. 

    This is a tough film because many of the Jews are starving, some only have rags to wear with others are dressed up and wearing jewelry.  Later, the survivors have a difficult time viewing the scenes.  Many younger Jews were told about the Ghetto in stories from their parents or grandparents.  These stories sounded like they were unbelievable but the film proves that they are true.  When the Russians arrived at a new factory in Germany, they shot all the Poles who had been working as collaborators.  The WWII American veterans played a big role in working with the Jews and securing their freedom.  They gave their lives or returned with permanent scars to the United States after freeing the Jews from the Nazis.  3 1/2* (I liked this movie)

88 min, documentary directed and written by Yael Hersonski with Hanna Avrutzki, Luba Gewisser, Jurek Plonski, Aliza Vitis-Shomron, Shula Zeder, Janusz Hamerszmit, Eliezer Niborski, Alexander Senderovich, Mendy Cahan, Chava Alberstein, Gera Sandler.

Note:  Imdb 7.4 out of 10 with 1,675 views, Rotten Tomatoes 97% with 65 critics 86% with 1,248 user ratings, Slant Magazine 3* out of 4* Andrew Schenker, Amazon 4.3* out of 5* with 108 ratings, Metacritic 88 out of 100 with 19 critics (19 positive) 7 out of 10 with 13 ratings (10 positive 1 mixed 2 negative, Letterboxd 3.6* out of 5*.

Special Note:  Filmed in Waswa, Mazowieckie, Poland.  The Warsaw Ghetto housed about 444,000 Polish Jews.  The black & white footage was filmed during May 1942.  The premiere was held at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival and it received a World Cinema Documentary Editing Award.