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hyped garbage

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

"Shoah" is a French documentary film from over 30 years ago that runs for over 9.5 hours. It consists of 2 parts that are both longer than 4.5 hours. The writer and director is French filmmaker Claude Lanzmann, which is why a lot of the film is in French. But there are parts in English, German, Hebrew, Polish... as well, so to full understand this movie, you will 99% need subtitles. The main problem for me was the runtime. It would have been okay if this was a series maybe consisting of 10 episodes, but in terms of a film, it should be possible to watch it during one viewing and this is hardly the case here.My criticism has little to do with the contents. The reports of the witnesses from both sides are informative and intriguing, even if there is nothing really in here that I have not seen or heard in other documentaries yet. Then again, these documentaries were made considerably later for the most part, so "Shoah" is a bit of an achievement also in terms of its time. It is mostly memorable because there is no archive footage used from concentration camps etc. used. It is basically all interviews. I am not sure if I like this though. If they show trains today riding there, then why not show trains with prisoners from back then. As a whole, I personally do not have a lot of interest in watching these over 10 hours again. Way too long for its own good and the runtime definitely hurts the viewer's perception and focus. Thumbs down.

despite my deep interest in the Shoah, I could watch only part of the movie. I was too disgusted by the morbidity by which the interviewer (the director himself) ask the most minute, excruciating, terrible details to the survivors, like "which members of your family died? how did you recognize their corpse when you dug out their bodies from the common graves?". And the interviewee eyes are filled with tears, and the camera steady on close up to show well his expression of pain. I found all this too filthy, this is voyeurism, it inflicts too much pain in those poor people, without bringing any benefit from an historical perspective. I bet that most interviewees had nightmares for weeks after these kind of interviews. And the movie is boring and technically very elementary.

Somewhat weakly structured and technically mediocre, but thematically powerful and devastating mammoth documentary about the unspeakable horrors of the Holocaust.The Nazi's cold and ruthless killing machinery, the total desolation and despair of the victims, the painful act of looking back on all the atrocities, the small details only witnesses can recall concisely; all this aspects and more form a haunting kaleidoscope of a time of unbelievable cruelty.Lanzmann's low-key approach proves to be just the more effective.8 out of 10

Shoah is without a doubt,one of the most powerful documentaries dealing with the thorny subject of the Holocaust you'll ever see. Unlike previous documentaries such as 'The Sorrow & The Pity',there is absolutely not frame one of any Holocaust victims on display,but the testimonies of those who were directly & indirectly involved with the Holocaust,through interviews. The film was shot over a period of several years,and hundreds of interviews,as well as present day footage of some of the surviving camps,such as Dauchu,that have been preserved as a reminder of the horror that happened,and should never happen again (although sadly does,even in this day & age in other countries & cultures). As a result of this, the film clocks in at nearly ten hours. Most cinemas that have had the bravura to screen 'Shoah' has either screened it in two parts (as the version that I saw in it's initial U.S. release),or in the case of New York's Film Forum,which has two screens,ran each part in separate cinemas, in staggered screenings with staggered times). This is a film that will generate deep conversation with any audience that sees it,as well as controversy. This film is not rated by the MPAA,but contains graphic & disturbing testimony of Nazi war atrocities that will haunt the viewer for a long time afterward. Not a good choice for very young children,but older teens that are interested in studying the Holocaust should see it.