A Film Unfinished Review
By David Kempler
A Finally Finished Film
Is there really anything left to be said about the Third Reich? Maybe. In May of 1942, the Nazis sent a camera crew to the Warsaw ghetto to shoot a "documentary" simply labeled "Das Ghetto". When the war ended, East German archivists discovered it among an enormous storage area of films. The Nazis loved to document their exploits. For many years, it was believed to be an honest look inside the world of Jews within the confines of the Warsaw ghetto walls. It contrasted wealthy Jews living there with the destitute Jews living like roving packs of dogs.
Everything changed in 1998 when another reel was discovered. It contained 30 minutes of outtakes, which very clearly illuminates the presence of the filmmakers within the film, and the staging of it all. Israeli director Yael Hersonski has put it all together, and editorialized it, in his "A Film Unfinished,". By breaking down all of the reels, the Israeli director Yael Hersonski attempts to explain "The Making of Das Ghetto".
Scenes found on the no longer missing reel show take after take of rich Jews enjoying great concerts, eating fabulous meals, sunbathing, and simply having the time of their lives. Turns out that the people shown are a mixture of German actors and Jews who didn't look terrible yet. Within feet of them, are poor Jews that are literally falling down and dying at the rich folks feet. Problem is that the ones dying are really dying. As the corpses pile up, the well-heeled Jews literally step over them and walk on by, never even looking down at their fallen brothers and sisters. One very young boy cannot help but stare at a corpse lying in the street. No doubt that he was going to be left on the cutting room floor. Good chance that he was shipped to Treblinka shortly after the film was actually shot. That is what happened to those that survived their time in Warsaw.
The most powerful scenes are those that feature survivors of the Warsaw ghetto. We watch them watching the footage, while they wonder aloud whether they will see themselves, their parents, their brothers and sisters, and friends. It is hard to relate just how powerful these scenes really are.
Hersonski goes to great lengths to not editorialize what we are watching. His ongoing interview with a cameraman on the original film for the Germans never challenges his testimony of not remembering everything from back then. It is an example of the non-hysterical style that permeates "A Film Unfinished". The end result leaves us both disgusted and calm. What we are most left with is the notion that if that last reel had not been discovered, we might have found the original footage to be the entire truth. It also tells us that even if something is labeled as a documentary, it may not be telling the whole story.
