Analysis of 'Night and Fog' Essay

When people lose their dignity, they also lose a part of the very thing that makes them human. Despair, hopelessness, fear and apathy are all ways a human can lose their humanity. The eyes provide a window onto the soul, and thus a view on the person’s mental state. The eyes also function in reverse, as a symbolic gesture of control over someone. All of this is present in Night, by Elie Wiesel, an account of human tragedy, human cruelty, human dignity, and the loss thereof.

The film that made an impression on me because of its techniques that were effective in showing the themes of the story was The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas. It was directed by Mark Herman, 2008 and is about an adventurous little German boy whose father gets a promotion to be commandant at a concentration camp. The little German boy, Bruno is the naive narrator. In spite of the fact that this film depends on the Holocaust and all the great degree brutal things that happened in the second world war, the movie is based around Bruno's understanding as a child and his friendship with a little Jewish boy, Shmuel. The techniques I write about that illustrate the themes of the film are; dialogue and music, acting, costume, camera shots, and symbolism.

One of the main themes throughout the book is the title of the book “Night”. There are references from Eliezer about night during the book, which are full of symbolism. The word “night” is used repeatedly, and Eliezer recounts every dusk, night and dawn through the entire book. For instance, Night could be a metaphor for the Holocaust—submerge the family and thousands of Jewish families in the darkness and misery of the concentration camps.

Language has the ability to impact the mood and tone of a piece in literature. In Night, Wiesel uses imagery, symbolism, diction and foreshadowing to illustrate dehumanization. The deeper true horror of the Holocaust is not what they Nazi’s did, but the behavior they legitimized as human beings being dehumanized by one another through silence and apathy.

In 2006, Elie Wiesel published the memoir “Night,” which focuses on his terrifying experiences in the Nazi extermination camps during the World War ll. Elie, a sixteen-year-old Jewish boy, is projected as a dynamic character who experiences overpowering conflicts in his emotions. One of his greatest struggles is the sense helplessness that he feels when all the beliefs and rights, of an entire nation, are reduced to silence. Elie and the Jews are subjected daily to uninterrupted torture and dehumanization. During the time spent in the concentration camp, Elie is engulfed by an uninterrupted roar of pain and despair. Throughout this horrific experience, Elie’s soul perishes as he faces constant psychological abuse, inhuman living conditions, and brutal negation of his humanity.

In the novel “Night”, author, Elie Wiesel uses imagery to share his experiences as a jew during the holocaust. Wiesel’s use of imagery helps demonstrate the tone and purpose of the entire novel. Elie Wiesel’s journey starts off  subtle but in the end leaves the reader heartbroken.    Throughout the story, Wiesel describes his tragic memories during the nazi concentration camps, which establishes a dark and somber tone. His descriptions and use of imagery creates the tone and purpose of “Night”.

The Holocaust is the world’s most dehumanizing incident that occurred from the years 1933 to 1945. It was a racial injustice in which Jews, along with people seen as inferior, were persecuted by the German Nazi’s. Author Elie Wiesel and director Steven Spielberg both do excellent jobs at educating an audience of the horrors people experienced during this time. In Wiesel’s novel Night, the Holocaust is shown from a Jewish boy’s perspective as Elie struggles to survive the torment of several concentration camps. Steven Spielberg’s film Schindler’s List shows the Holocaust from a German Nazi’s perspective, as Oscar Schindler faces an internal struggle while attempting to protect several Jews. The stories share numerous similarities along with differences, however, when it comes down to which is a better representation of the Holocaust, Night will come out on top due to Wiesel’s first hand experiences inside the camps.

This essay is about the movie Inglourious Basterds (2009) written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. The significant elements of mise-en-scene in the film will be discussed, along with the film’s elements of cinematography in the opening scene. Film often uses editing techniques in its storytelling that infer meaning, subtle though they may be. These techniques will be identified and discussed, and the meanings explained. Set in Nazi-occupied France during World War II, the film follows a group of Jewish US soldiers as they plan to assassinate the leaders of the Third Reich in a movie theater. Led by Allied officer Lieutenant Aldo Raine, played by Brad Pitt, the “Basterds’” plan coincides with the theater owner’s vengeful plans for the same thing.

Lonely. Confuse. Disappointed. In the memoir Night by Elie Wiesel. Elie's family was sent to concentration camps, which drove the family to suffer. Elie had to experience traumatic events, which made Elie change. Elie's faith before the Holocaust was strong, then he started questioning his faith, and ended up losing his faith.

In America, our generation hasn’t really had to deal with harsh times in our lives yet. Therefore, we have difficulty grasping the idea of truly terrible times. In Night, Elie Wiesel does an amazing job of using imagery,symbolism, and irony to illustrate the harsh reality of living in the camps. He wants us to understand the unbearable silence that fell over him, his father, and the rest of the Jewish community during the time of World War 2.

Son of Saul is a historical fiction film that gives the jewish and nazi experiences within a extermination camp. Son of Saul authentically portrays the Holocaust through the perspectives of the Sonderkommandos and the Nazi SS by attempting to film every scene in first person with the camera focus on one Sonderkommando. The film is authentic, because its cinematography exposes taboos of Holocaust filmmaking as well as the juxtaposed mentalities of survivors and victims within an extermination camp in first person. The definition of authentic applied in this instance is something original with genuinely reliable value. This film’s cinematography is instrumental in the expression of these juxtaposed mentalities and Holocaust film-making taboos.

The depiction of subjects is always absolutely accurate to reinforce the portrayal of real life and is void of any unnecessary artistic embellishment (Vaux, R. 2014). A technique that is used is filming done on locations rather than sets to properly portray the feel of real-life. Events are not euphemized or hyperbolized to become a distortion or opinion of the truth. Unpleasant images, words and events are portrayed in full with no hidden facts, as well as plain images, words or events.

Salameno School of Humanities & Global Studies Dr. Michael A. Riff The Holocaust & the Media (AMER309) Film Critique Name of Student: Karissa Mata Title of Film: Night and Fog Plot Summary: The 1955 film Night and Fog, created ten years after World War II, was one of the first cinematic reflections of the acts that occurred during the Holocaust. Director Alain Renais focused on revealing the truth about the Holocaust while avoiding sentimentality.

"Never shall I forget that night, the first night in the camp, which has turned my life into one long night, seven times cursed and seven times sealed. Never shall I forget that smoke. Never shall I forget the little wreaths of smoke beneath a silent blue sky. Never shall I forget those flames which consumed my faith forever. Never shall I forget that nocturnal silence which deprived me, for all eternity, of the desire to live. Never shall I forget those moments which murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to dust. Never shall I forget these things, even if I am condemned to live as long as God Himself. Never." (9)

It is possible to claim that these films provide ‘salves for a wounded nation’. In each film the extreme slaughter of war is