Saturday June 10, 1:30pm The Harvard Exit

This is the story of the Prague Jews surviving Nazi occupation during the war. The film takes the primary story image and shrinks it down to thumbnail size periodically, much like picture in picture, to show newsreel footage which uses a variety of sources including (if you can believe this) scenes from Leni Riefenstahl's 'Triumph of the Will' (1935)! Photographed quite nicely with an over all dark and oppressive tone, the use of sound effects is also highly unusual and effective as a tension-building device in a number of scenes. The central character Hana, a young doctor, remains in the city while her entire family is taken away to the death camps. The portrayal of Czech Jews in a struggle to retain their dignity in the face of terror and humiliation is sympathetic and effective.

Alfréd Radok directed this Czechoslovakian film about the Holocaust and how it impacted the Jews of Prague. While it did not impress me nearly as much as another Czechoslovakian film about the same subject I saw a few years ago ("The Shop on Main Street"), it was a very good but grim film about the folks waiting--waiting until they, too, were called up for deportation. In particular, it focuses on a young Jewish lady who only recently married a Gentile--and how difficult this persecution is on their marriage. And, ultimately, the husband is sent to a work camp for marrying a Jew and she is sent off to Theresienstadt--one of the 'nice' camps (relatively speaking)--though life is pretty brutal there nevertheless.

While "Distant Journey" is a good film, there are MANY exceptional films about he Holocaust (such as "Shadows and Fog", "Schindler's List", "The Shop on Main Street" and the mini-series "Holocaust"). And, I sure doubt if people will watch them all. So, it comes down to whether or not this one should be among your 'must-see' list or one in the 'see it if you get a chance' list--which I would say about this film. The acting is good, the story unique and informative--but the film also seemed a bit sanitized. The wretchedness of the camp internees wasn't especially vivid--and the leading lady entirely too well-fed.

By the way, these may not be mistakes, but I was surprised when early in the film Jews were talking about not wanting to be sent off to Auschwitz and they talked about the Germans gassing Jews. Was this really common knowledge? I thought (perhaps incorrectly) that this was more or less kept secret and most of the doomed people didn't know exactly what was in store for them.

One of the first films about the Holocaust, this is set in the concentration camp of Theresienstadt (modern Terezin) about a marriage between a Jewish woman and a Czech gentile but with truly impressive filmic style which was much admired by Alain Resnais who reflected it in his 'Night and Fog'. There are parallels here with Lanzman's 'Un Vivant Qui Passe' also about Theresienstadt and Maetzig's German near contemporary film 'Ehe im Schatten' (marriage in the shadows) about a similar marriage. Alfred Radok is one of the great lost directors - part of the famous Laterna Magika of Prague - he was the victim not just of the Nazis but of the Communists.

What is truly unique about this film? Radok directed it in 1950, right after the WW2. But the directing techniques are incredible for that time. Instead of a simple parody of Hilter as in Chaplin's Dictator, Radok let the words of propaganda speak for themselves. A dull, boring voice of reporter is talking pure propaganda and its much more powerful than the Chaplin's way. There also the techniques of so called brief flashes. We see the propaganda documentary(L.Riefenstahl) and there are brief flashes that ridicule the lies of propaganda.(it reminds me Fight club and the brief flashes of penis). To sum it up, Radok is using directing techniques that started to appear in the 60s. He was way ahead. And also his family died in c.camp so it must have been really painful for him to shoot there. He was a real genius and it's pity that the many film critics don't know anything about Radok and his work.