The art and angst of viewing Holocaust films

2018 ◽  
pp. 34-39
Author(s):  
Bruce Sklarew
Keyword(s):  
Holocaust Films

scholarly journals Sexualization of Female Perpetration in Fictional Holocaust Films: A Case Study of The Reader (2008)

Genealogy ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 52
Author(s):  
Sabine Elisabeth Aretz
Keyword(s):  
Female Victims ◽  
Female Perpetration ◽  
The Holocaust ◽  
Female Perpetrators ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Holocaust Film ◽  
Holocaust Films ◽  
The One

The publication of Bernhard Schlink’s novel The Reader (1995) sparked conversation and controversy about sexuality, female perpetrators and the complexity of guilt regarding the Holocaust. The screen adaptation of the book (Daldry 2008) amplified these discussions on an international scale. Fictional Holocaust films have a history of being met with skepticism or even reject on the one hand and great acclaim on the other hand. As this paper will outline, the focus has often been on male perpetrators and female victims. The portrayal of female perpetration reveals dichotomous stereotypes, often neglecting the complexity of the subject matter. This paper focuses on the ways in which sexualization is used specifically to portray female perpetrators in The Reader, as a fictional Holocaust film. An assessment of Hanna’s relationship to Michael and her autonomous sexuality and her later inferior, victimized portrayal as an ambiguous perpetrator is the focus of my paper. Hanna’s sexuality is structurally separated from her role as a perpetrator. Hanna’s perpetration is, through the dichotomous motif of sexuality throughout the film, characterized by a feminization. However, this feminization entails a relativization of Hanna’s culpability, revealing a pejorative of her depiction as a perpetrator. Consequently, I argue that Hanna’s sexualized female body is constructed as a central part of the revelation of her perpetration.

The age of innocence? Child narratives and Italian Holocaust films

Modern Italy ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 197-208 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giacomo Lichtner
Keyword(s):  
Historical Film ◽  
The Holocaust ◽  
Child Narratives ◽  
The Age Of Innocence ◽  
Holocaust Film ◽  
Holocaust Films ◽  
Post War ◽  
Humanitarian Values ◽  
A Site ◽  
The Relationship

This article critically assesses the use of children as narrators in two recent Italian Holocaust films: Roberto Benigni's La Vita é Bella (1997) and Ettore Scola's Concorrenza Sleale (2001). The analysis places the films and their choice of narrator in the context of the child in European Holocaust film and argues that the child's perspective, often used to qualify the actions of adult characters and cast a questioning or even accusatory gaze on them, is used in these Italian films to perform the opposite function. Focusing on cinema as a site of memory and as a site of emotions, the article suggests that Italian filmmakers use children to infantilise the audience, induce pity rather than reflection, and discuss Italy's role in the Holocaust while reassuring audiences of the life-affirming, democratic and humanitarian values of post-war Italians. This political and historiographical use of the child's emotions not only reinforces the need to insist on the revision of the brava gente myth, but also invites a thorough reconsideration of the complexity of the relationship between the historical film and the emotions.

Nevermore

2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 215-218
Author(s):  
Aaron Kerner
Keyword(s):  
Warsaw Ghetto ◽  
Holocaust Films

Holocaust films share common tropes. A number of Holocaust films feature children – utilized for any number of narrative purposes. A fair number of Holocaust films also include birds, usually to visualize a character’s longing. Seven Minutes in the Warsaw Ghetto uses these common tropes, but breaks the mold.

scholarly journals Gathering opinion and initiating debate: the success of the Delphi Method in purely qualitative research

2009 ◽  
Vol 28 (89) ◽  
pp. 35-44
Author(s):  
Brian Cape
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
Delphi Method ◽  
Evaluation Criteria ◽  
Delphi Survey ◽  
Holocaust Studies ◽  
Subjective Interpretation ◽  
Holocaust Film ◽  
Holocaust Films ◽  
The Individual

Certain evaluation criteria have emerged frequently from the published literature on Holocaust film. This suggested that it might have been possible to establish a list of such criteria, to provide a framework for the evaluation of Holocaust films. A Delphi survey of United Kingdom Holocaust Studies experts was used to investigate this possibility. The survey elicited in-depth opinions from the experts, which the researcher analysed in order to conclude that evaluating the success of a Holocaust film is dependent upon the subjective interpretation of the individual viewer. This article concentrates upon the methodology used in this study, examining the suitability of the Delphi Method as a tool for rich qualitative research.

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