Night and Fog is a French documentary that was made ten years after the Holocaust, and documents the horrors and unspeakable crimes of the Nazis. The film juxtaposes old stock footage of the Holocaust along with 1955 present-day footage of the concentration camp, Auschwitz, which was (and still is) open for tourism. The film is very raw in its delivery, narrated by a Frenchman who actually survived concentration camp life.
The film, as a whole, is wrapped up and delivered in a haunting tone. In the beginning, the shots of the fields and shots of buildings, only shown partially at first, seem like they could be anywhere in the world. The day that the movie opens on is nice, sunny, and perhaps even pleasant. However, the narrator begins to talk. There is a haunting nature to his voice and his words which serves to call attention to the absurdity of the words against such a nice backdrop. This is done with a purpose: to alert the viewer that what’s ahead is not all rainbows and sunshine.
Quickly, images of atrocities on the parts of Hitler and his regime begin to flash across the screen. If it seems hard to handle, that’s because it is. But Resnais is smart; he is keenly aware of what he is representing and wants the viewer to be aware of it too. So, what exactly is he trying to call our attention to?
This film, taken at face-value, is showing how terrible the Nazis were to the Jews, and even uses someone’s personal experience to get drive that point home. However, spend enough time studying World History, we already know how horrible the Nazis were. This film is operating through many different layers. One of the layers is commenting on the strangeness of the shells of these camps attracting tourism – many have been turned into museums. This is a complex reality: to those that have lived the Holocaust, I’m sure they would love to see their places of torment burned to the ground; I am sure those who survived did not know they would make it out on the other side, and they probably don’t wish for such physical reminders of their pain and suffering. I have read many personal accounts of survivors or their children who knew nothing of what their parents experienced, who talk about how they are never able to return to their homes after their liberation.
On the other hand, I feel these reminders serve as warnings to society today to never allow such heinous acts to take place again. Many wonder how such things could happen in broad daylight…it’s easy to understand how those who lived through the concentration camps felt as if the world had abandoned them. Yet, these camps that caused so much pain to an entire population, stand as a reminder to never let their stories die, and never let the world forget. I can see the point of people visiting the camps and their accompanying museums for these reasons.
Returning to the film, another interesting device used to tell this story was the music. The music used heightens the awareness if the audience and acts as another absurdity in and of itself. Not quite uplifting, but not quite typical of horror music, the piece falls somewhere between the two. It is strange and the crescendos somehow fit with the images being shown, and gave off an overall vibe of creepiness. It is very effective in making the audience or viewer perk up and pay attention to the message of the film. Compared to Bugler films of it’s near past, was different because it showed more social perspective. There was no political agenda, no call to action/patriotism on the part of the nations. It was about revealing the horrors of the Holocaust and the strangeness of Holocaust tourism, and it was very effective in doing just that.