Review of A Film Unfinished (2010) by Mark J — 29 Jun 2011

This film is an important "document" about an infamous/famous piece of Nazi propaganda - and the evidence of staging that was supported by the discovering of a missing reel of outtakes recently. Shot in the Warsaw Ghetto in May of 1942, it is a clear & horrifying reminder of what happens when a society chooses to dehumanize a group of people... and then cover it over with a whitewash of images & rhetoric.

That said, I had great difficulty connecting with the film - possibly because the previews I had seen over-promised what the newly discovered footage would reveal. It is horrible beyond belief - forcing naked Jews to engage in ritual baths for the camera or for other Jews to ignore those begging for food... and the cruel sight of emaciated bodies being dumped into a mass grave. But thanks to document evidence from inside the Ghetto, we've known for a long time about the history behind the Nazi film. The footage simply confirms this.

The film is primarily a narrated/scored showing of the entire propaganda film (the original footage does not have a soundtrack) with some artsy shots of the projection of the film & the storage place of the film and the hiding place of the Ghetto history. The most emotionally affecting moments are watching survivors of the Ghetto watching the film...

I think this is important information, but I'm not sure it is compelling filmmaking... which has made me really struggle about how to rate it.