Night and Fog

The documentary Night and Fog is an extremely powerful and emotionally moving film that depicts the hellish horrors and terrors took place inside concentration camps during the Holocaust.  The films images are what really create the sense of dread and pure sadness in the film. The films images by far over power the soundtrack of the film.  The soundtrack to me seemed very contradictory. The music seemed out of place with the images that were being displayed on the screen.  It seemed as if the music belonged in scenes where positive actions are being enacted.  Since the music was out of place, it almost gave a creepy feel towards the film as well.
       There were multiple times throughout the documentary that the disturbing images almost compelled me to look away.  I think the most disturbing image was the forklift piling up the bodies and dumping them into a ditch as if they were garbage.  It is horrifying that people were able to complete such tasks without any empathy whatsoever.  There were multiple times where the images displayed on the screen made me overwhelmed with disgust and confusion.  I was having a hard time grasping onto the fact that these things actually happened, and that's why this film was so powerful.  The film acts a reminder of the tremendous amount of power a film can have on a audience.
       An aspect of the film I found interesting was the use of color and black and white.  The color was used during scenes from present day as the camera showed the concentration camps during the time the film was made.  The black and white is then used for scenes showing the acts that happened during the Holocaust.  This color usage has multiple effects, including that it helps distinguish past from present. When the film would change back to color, it almost gave me a sense of relief.  The horrors being displayed during the Holocaust were so powerful at times, that the switch to color served as a reminder that these things were in the past.  But, although the scenes brought relief, it also, in my opinion, carried another reminder that although the crimes are in the past, they are NOT forgotten.  The abandoned concentration camps served as a basis to remember those who were brutally murdered there and that there deaths will never be forgotten.
       This was one of the most powerful films I have ever seen.  It's one of those films that has the ability to stick with you days after viewing.  It definitely did so for me.