The best documentaries and feature films about the Holocaust: list, reviews and reviews

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

The Second World War is one of the most terrible events of the last century. The Nazis committed a huge number of horrific acts that still remain in the memory of many people. The Germans gradually took over one country after another, introducing new laws and putting their allies in power who adhered to fascist ideology. All this led to such a terrible thing as the Holocaust. In a narrow sense, the term represents the persecution of the Jews. They were forcibly sent to concentration camps, where they were forced to do inhuman work. And those who could not work were simply killed in the most cruel way. In this article, we will analyze the most notable feature films and documentaries about the concentration camp, the Holocaust.

Best feature films

Throughout the history of cinema, a huge number of different films have been created on the theme of World War II and the Holocaust. They were filmed both in America and Europe. From an extensive list, we have selected the best films about the Holocaust for every taste. They all talk aboutthose long-standing events that changed the world forever.

Schindler's List

This is the best Holocaust movie (feature). One of the main masterpieces of world cinema, created by the outstanding American director Steven Spielberg. During his long career, he taught us that he is a master in entertainment cinema. He has countless boxbusters of the highest level to his credit. But in the mid-nineties, Stephen decided to change direction and make a realistic war film called Schindler's List. The movie turned out to be low-budget and black and white, which was quite unusual for modern cinema. But all this made it possible to fully experience the atmosphere of those terrible events.

The main character is a successful man and entrepreneur named Schindler. He is a real person who left a significant mark on history. He decided to use his connections not for selfish purposes, but in order to help the Jews. Thus, he managed to save more than a hundred human lives and become a national hero. His fate will be told in this film.

Life is beautiful

Of course, this topic could not bypass the Italian cinema. This people also had to go through a difficult period of time before fascism was finally defeated. This film about the Holocaust was shot by a well-known Italian comedian named Roberto Benigni. Given the fact that before that he had never taken on serious topics, it was extremely unusual to watch him in this genre. Initially, the film looks easy, but around the middle, a serious emphasis on drama begins to be made. Benigni successfully managed to find a balance between such different genres and create a real masterpiece of world cinema.

At the center of the plot of this film is a young man who comes from the provinces to the city. He dreams of finding a job as well as building a family life. The protagonist is a cheerful merry fellow who sees only positive in everything. Thanks to this, he quickly managed to win the heart of a local beauty, with whom he fell in love almost at first sight. They have lived together for several years now. They had a nice boy, to whom they tried to give everything they needed. But everything changed after the Nazis came to power. From this moment on, the life of the protagonist's family turns into a real nightmare…

Pianist

Roman Polanski is an extremely difficult person. During his long life he had a chance to endure a considerable number of various incidents. In the second half of the last century, Charles Manson killed his young pregnant wife, after some time Polanski was also accused of various unpleasant things, which is why he still cannot work normally in the United States. No less important is the fact that as a child he had to witness all the horrors of the Second World War and miraculously survive. Then he was stillchild. So there is nothing surprising in the fact that one day he nevertheless decided to put a picture on this difficult and rather personal topic. This film about the Holocaust, the Jews turned out to be quite large-scale and earned a huge number of prestigious awards. According to many, "The Pianist" is the pinnacle of this director's work.

At the center of the story is a young man who is Jewish. He lives peacefully with his family until one day a war breaks out. The Germans began to systematically exterminate the Jews, so that the protagonist had no choice but to try to flee. Ahead of him will be waiting for long and painful years that will forever change his usual outlook on life. Will he be able to survive in such a difficult time for the country and not become another victim?

Boy in striped pajamas

This movie is seriously different from the ones above. The thing is that the main characters of this story are ordinary children who have not yet had time to realize the horror of what is happening in the world. They are forced to communicate through a huge lattice. One of them is a Jew in a Nazi camp. The other, in turn, is an ordinary naive boy and the son of one of the chiefs of this terrible time. The child does not yet know what terrible things his father does. Ahead of him are many terrible discoveries that will forever change his worldview.

Son of Saul

As we said earlier, films about the Holocaust are made not only in America, but also in many other countries of the world. "Son of Saul" is a rare representative of Hungarian cinematography, which received worldwide publicity and got to the largest festivals in the world. In particular, "Son of Saul" won the "Oscar" in the nomination "Best Foreign Language Film". A well-deserved victory.

The film tells the story of a man named Saul. He is one of the many prisoners of a terrible place called Auschwitz. It was there that the most terrible death camp was located, in which Jews were burned. The protagonist is a man whose task was to accompany the prisoners on their last journey. But his duties do not end there. Then Saul is forced to clean up all traces of the presence in the camp of prisoners. In one of the dead, he recognizes his son. And then he decides, by all means, to bury him according to all the laws of his religion. Will the main character succeed?

The Book Thief

A rather atypical film, which is an adaptation of the book of the same name, which became a bestseller. The plot revolves around a young nine-year-old girl living in Germany. She is forced to exist in a world full of violence. Truly horrifying things are happening around: murders, persecution of Jews, confrontations between fascists and anti-fascists … all this turned the girl's life into a real nightmare. As a result, she found solace in reading books in which life was much more colorful and happy. Toget a new book, she starts stealing. But will reading help you forget the whole nightmare going on in the world?

Paradise

Russian films about the Holocaust are also worthy of attention. "Paradise" - a picture taken by the outstanding director Andrei Konchalovsky. Despite his considerable age and long career, he continues to delight us with extremely original and atypical films for Russian cinema. We have long been accustomed to the fact that if a war film is made by a Russian director, then it will invariably tell about the Great Patriotic War. But Konchalovsky decided to go against the usual foundations and made the first Russian film about the Holocaust. His beautiful wife played the title role brilliantly.

At the center of the plot is a young girl who is a teacher at a local French school. She is already watching enough of all the horror that is happening in the world. And one day she decided to help several Jews escape death. As often happened in those years, the Germans, without a drop of hesitation, raided residential areas and searched apartments, hoping to find hiding Jews. As a result, the main character is also taken to a concentration camp, where a real nightmare awaits her. Can she escape and save her life?

List of documentaries

In feature films, stories are often embellished and softer. You won't see this in documentaries. Everything is told in them with maximum reliability, sowe invite you to also pay attention to these films.

Night and Fog

Alain Resnais is an eminent French director who has shot a considerable number of classic films. The director's most popular work is considered to be "Night and Fog" - a documentary about the Holocaust, which every connoisseur of our past should watch.

Shoah

"Shoah" is a monumental nine-hour documentary about the Holocaust, the production of which took a considerable amount of time and effort. It tells about the persecution of Jews during the Second World War. The film also touches on many other important topics that are simply impossible to ignore.

Reviews from critics and viewers

Films about the Holocaust, the list of which is not limited to those described in the article, have always been a success with both viewers and critics. That is why they resonated, and also collected solid money at the box office. All of the above films are considered masterpieces in many respects. Spectators and critics unanimously noted the excellent plot, the unsurpassed acting, and the musical accompaniment. However, many people conscientiously worked on their creation. Everyone needs to give them their due, as now we have the opportunity to enjoy wonderful feature films and learn the details of those terrible times from documentaries. Some of them carry a deep idea, while others have a non-standard approach to certain concepts. So you're definitely notyou will be disappointed after watching.