The genocide of the Jews is one of the worst pages in human history, and millions of victims will never be forgotten. Not least thanks to the cinema, because on this subject a lot of outstanding films were shot telling about the horrors and injustices of those events.
Today we decided to recall the best 10 films dedicated to the Holocaust, collecting both Hollywood paintings and tapes of domestic production.
10. The Witnesses | 2018
The film witnesses “Witnesses” consists of three short films: “Shoes”, “Brutus” and “Violin”. In these works, the director Konstantin Fam pays tribute to the victims, and also tries to remind them of the young generation who are new to history.
Each of the short stories was nominated for an Oscar, and although the award passed them, they were warmly received by foreign critics and received many other awards. In addition to Russia, France, Israel, the Czech Republic, Poland and Belarus took part in the production.
9. "Schindler's List" | 1993
The film tells about the exploit of Oscar Schindler, who, thanks to his connections and membership in the nationalist party, was able to save more than 1,000 Polish Jews from execution during the war. Of course, for the sake of the plot, many real details were embellished and changed, but the picture only benefited from such metamorphoses.
Schindler’s List has been in the top ten of the best American films for many years (at the moment it is on the 9th line), having a lot of awards. Film academics appreciated the directorial work of Stephen Spielberg, handing him the Oscar for the best directing and best film. In addition, the drama received 5 more awards, as well as 7 BAFTA awards and 3 Golden Globes.
8. The "Pianist" | 2002
The director of The Pianist, the odious Roman Polanski, knows firsthand what the Jews survived in the ghetto. He himself, as a child, lived in one of these areas, personally going through all the hardships of the German occupation.
Based on the real story of pianist Vladislav Shpilman, Polanski managed to shoot one of the best paintings about the Holocaust. Adrian Brody, who played the main role, became the youngest winner of the Oscars and truly showed his acting talent.
7. "Sophie's Choice" | 1982
During World War II, in many German concentration camps, women were allowed to have only one child, so the main character Sophie had to make a monstrous choice: leave her six-year-old son and abandon her three-year-old daughter, who was sent to the crematorium.
The son was also taken away from his mother, having sent him to the children's labor camp, and Sophie herself was made a servant at the "top" of the camp leadership. The lead actor, Meryl Streep, for this film received her first major Oscar (before that she had a statuette for the best minor female role).
6. Sobibor | 2018
The directorial and script debut of Konstantin Khabensky, who also played the main role. The film tells about the real story of the uprising of the prisoners of the Sobibor military camp in 1943, which was the only successful one during the war.
The main character is Lieutenant Alexander Pechersky, who was captured and sent to the camp for execution, since in addition to wearing the enemy uniform, he was also a Soviet Jew. Not wanting to give up without a fight, in just 3 weeks he plans and organizes an uprising that leads to a mass escape of Sobibor prisoners.
The role of the antagonist was played by Christopher Lambert, who in the image of Karl Frenzel, the German boss, looks very convincing.
5. "Surviving with the Wolves" | 2007
The parents of little Misha were deported from Belgium, where they were hiding from the persecution, and, left completely alone, Misha decides to go east after them, on foot and without money. Along the way, she is forced to steal provisions and clothes in order to survive, but a real danger awaits her in the forest, where she almost dies.
She is saved from imminent death by wolves, the bestial hearts of which have melted her helplessness. Over time, she becomes a full member of the pack, while simultaneously observing how blood and fire cover Europe. The girl understands that people are creatures far more cruel and merciless than wild animals.
4. "The boy in the striped pajamas" | 2008
The father of eight-year-old Bruno is a Nazi official who is being transferred from Berlin to the vicinity of a concentration camp. Jews are kept and executed in it, killing them in gas chambers. The boy, by virtue of his age, does not understand and does not realize the horrors created behind the fence of the "farm", therefore he considers people dressed in striped robes with numbers on their chests simply strange.
Once he meets a Jewish boy, Shmuel, with whom he communicates through the fence, and gradually they make friends. The friendship between the son of the Nazi and the Jew, who, despite the difference in origin, will end the same way.
3. "The day the clown cried" | 1972
The German comedian Helmut Dork imprudently joked about Hitler, for which he was repressed and sent to Auschwitz. The self-willed clown was regularly beaten for arranging small performances for Jewish children, trying to at least somehow brighten up their difficult life.
One day, the head of the camp decided to use Helmut's kindness, ordering him to entertain the children on the way to the gas chamber, where they were executed. Cheerful and carefree in appearance, he trembled with terror inside, escorting the children to certain death, until one day he dared to go with them.
2. "The wife of the zoo keeper" | 2017
Another story about the salvation of hundreds of Jews, based on real events. The director of the Warsaw Zoo, together with his wife Antonina (she was incomparably played by Jessica Chastain), hid in the empty cages of fugitives from the Warsaw ghetto, despite the huge risk.
Their close family friend, who is also in love with Antonina, became a high-ranking Nazi, but even the proximity of the exposure did not stop this married couple.
1. The Son of Saul | 2015
The fictional story of the escape from Auschwitz, filmed by director-debutant Laszlo Nemesh with the unprofessional actor Geza Rörig in the title role, became one of the best films of 2015.
Despite the modest budget and inexperience of the film crew, they put the main thing into the picture - the soul. A 96% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and the Grand Prix of the Cannes Film Festival is only a small part of the awards received by the “Son of Saul”.