The Holocaust is something that can never be truly depicted by words or film, in Night and Fog (Resnais, 1955) the narrator says, ”No shot can restore their true dimensions” and Elie Wiesel says, “How can one recount when- by the scale and weight of its horror- the event defies language?.. The essential will remain unsaid, eradicated, buried in the ash that covers this story…Does there exist another way, another language, to say what is unsayable?” (page 209) I was blown away by his words and the how the film acknowledges that the horror of this event can’t be shown. However, Resnais still makes you uncomfortable while watching his film.
The film made me feel uncomfortable with the pan of the endless piles of bodies and the buildings and equipment used for torture. I was glad it made me uncomfortable because I knew it was challenging me and making me see something I wouldn’t have seen otherwise. Flitterman-Lewis talks about how this, ”allows him to represent the unrepresentable, to image and unspeakable terror, and to simultaneously produce both anxiety and reflection on part of the viewer.” (page 205) The ending was thought-provoking, to say the least, with the question of “who is responsible?” followed by a series of questions. It made me realize how similar stuff is happening like in Rohingya. What are we doing to stop this genocide? Turning a blind eye.
Every time I read or watch something about the Holocaust I learn something new. For example, I didn’t know about how they used, “every bit of “waste”… ashes become fertilizer, bodies become soap, hair becomes textiles, and skin becomes paper for drawing.” (page 206) When I first heard in Night and Fog ,” the skin gets used for” and they showed the paper I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t fully realize the truth until I read it in text and I was shocked. Once again, the Holocaust is something that I will never know enough about and I’m glad films like this keep bringing awareness to the experience of it.