I really liked that they showed the functioning of the gas chambers and the crematoriums. Many Holocaust movies shy away from gritty explicit representation and opt for an artistic shot of smoke or a generic portrayal of life in the camps. But this was the reality: floors flooded with naked unnamed corpses, people reduced to disposable meat being shoved systematically into ovens, the Jews of these kommandos were forced to be complicit with the crime even though they were victims themselves... My admiration for the director for not trying to make it look pretty.
The worst part was the casting of Henry Stram as Dr. Josef Mengele, such an awful choice that I had to check the list of actors and their roles in Wikipedia to know who tf that random SS Doctor was supposed to be. Henry Stram here was almost 50 and bald, being part of a tedious unremarkable scene. The real Josef Mengele was in his early 30s, with dark hair, impeccable appearance and cheerful personality despite the job he was conducting. In fact he made such an impression on the prisoners that after the liberation many described him as handsome. Here are some real pictures of him if anyone is interested: https://qph.cf2.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-b4539b21766d6b242dfa009a1dd573dd-pjlq and https://reibert.info/attachments/1-jpg.9427964/. So yeah, if they're representing real people it would be a bare minimun to have someone that resembles them...
Review by GötterdämmerungBlockedParent2023-02-13T17:50:14Z— updated 2024-03-31T20:10:41Z
I really liked that they showed the functioning of the gas chambers and the crematoriums. Many Holocaust movies shy away from gritty explicit representation and opt for an artistic shot of smoke or a generic portrayal of life in the camps. But this was the reality: floors flooded with naked unnamed corpses, people reduced to disposable meat being shoved systematically into ovens, the Jews of these kommandos were forced to be complicit with the crime even though they were victims themselves... My admiration for the director for not trying to make it look pretty.
The worst part was the casting of Henry Stram as Dr. Josef Mengele, such an awful choice that I had to check the list of actors and their roles in Wikipedia to know who tf that random SS Doctor was supposed to be. Henry Stram here was almost 50 and bald, being part of a tedious unremarkable scene. The real Josef Mengele was in his early 30s, with dark hair, impeccable appearance and cheerful personality despite the job he was conducting. In fact he made such an impression on the prisoners that after the liberation many described him as handsome. Here are some real pictures of him if anyone is interested: https://qph.cf2.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-b4539b21766d6b242dfa009a1dd573dd-pjlq and https://reibert.info/attachments/1-jpg.9427964/. So yeah, if they're representing real people it would be a bare minimun to have someone that resembles them...