Tuesday October 18, 2011

Young Torless- This is a pretty darn fantastic German film. It's one thing to watch 'Schindler's List' and see the disturbing events of the Holocaust, but better than that is to truly be frightened by the events when they are not even happening. 'Torless' uses the poor treatment of a child at a Boys' School to portray the Holocaust and the limited power German society had to stop the words of the Nazi Party. The even greater knowledge is knowing that it was a novel that was released 40 years prior to the events of the Holocaust. The novel by Robert Musil in many ways predicted the events to come, and now made into a film by Volker Schlondorff 20 years after the Holocaust, reminds the audience that even though everyone in the Nazi party didn't agree with their leader, sometimes, conforming is the only way to keep one's self safe. Dark stuff. Dark stuff indeed.



- Jeff Bassin