Schindler’s List however was made in 1993 by Steven Spielberg and so is aware of the full story behind the Nazis. The scene describes the liquidation of the Krakow ghetto. It starts off with a Nazi leader who makes a passionate speech about the historical significance of the day. Speeches as seen in Triumph of the Will are very important to the Nazis. This speech is juxtaposed and heard over images of Jewish families trying to hide their wealth in bread and we see an old man singing a traditional Jewish song. This is heard over the Nazi’s speech and gives a sense of Jewish history: this is the calm before the storm.
At the start of the scene, a title was shown on screen. It read “Liquidation of the Ghetto, March 13th 1943”. This along with the use of monochrome makes the film seem like it is original footage or a historical documentary, it makes the film seem more realistic. This is a good example of how Speilberg makes the audience think about what they are watching by using a technique called Verfrumdungseffekt. This is a manner of preventing the audience’s suspension of disbelief in order to make the audience question why events on screen are taking place. It is used to lead the audience to respond critically by detaching them emotionally from the film. Therefore this does not lead the audience to respond emotionally, but is also a very effective technique of making the film have a larger and more meaningful impact on the viewer.
The use of German by a lot of the soldiers adds to the realism and also adds to the terrifying confusion when the soldiers first move in. The Jews however, speak in English, this makes them seem more human to a British audience than the monsters who were shooting them.
The only colour in the film is when a little girl in red dress appears, her dress is not clear but it becomes brighter and brighter until we have a pan shot from Schindler’s point of view down at the town with the girl in the red dress very clear. She walks past scenes of brutality not really noticing, her coloured dress is a symbol for hope, but when she hides under the bed, the colour fades away; her hope dies.
There are two chilling incidents that show the Nazis as humans (albeit racist humans), the first being the young Nazi helper saying to the mother and child, ‘I’ll lead you to the good line’ he thinks he has done a great deed and the mother and child thank him but in actual fact, no line is a good line because all lines lead to concentration camps.
The second incident is when the Nazis come back in the night to kill those who hid from them: after shooting someone who clambered out of the piano, a Nazi soldier begins to play Mozart on it. His friend asks in German (there are English subtitles) “Is that Beethoven?” the pianist replies “No it is Mozart.” The friendly matter-of-fact way that they have this short conversation is very scary indeed. This calm classical music is juxtaposed with the sounds of gunshot and flashes in the shadowed hall.
One of the Nazi officials says in a rather deflated, monotonous tone of voice “When the fuck is this going to end?” which shows that this massacre is no big deal to the Nazis, and life is not valued as highly as it should be by them. This is considered a chore by the Nazis which leads the audience to think about how heartless the Nazis are being. The audience would automatically feel that the Nazis were amoral human beings.
Cabaret I think was a welcome respite from these two chilling films though it had dark, dark undertones. It was directed by Bob Fosse in 1972 and was set in ‘30s Germany when Germans turned to Cabaret to forget their worries about the depression. The scene we watched was set in a bar. The bar owner was approached by two men in brown shirts asking for donations. He refused to allow them in and threw them out. They took objection to this and savagely beat him up outside his bar. This was juxtaposed with the play that was taking place inside the bar, which was almost a parody of Nazi traditions and stereotypes.
The actors were in traditional German clothing which was intended to mock Hitler as he was a very traditional, old fashioned Nazi. The use of slapstick in this scene was apparent in the song and dance, portrayed the Nazis as unintelligent people, making a mockery of their political and prestigious status and image. The effect of the juxtaposition of the bar owner being beaten up, and the upbeat song and dance was very noticeable as you are shocked at the graphic images you are seeing when the man is being beaten, left in a pool of his own blood to die. Yet this is contrasted to the song and dance taking place inside the bar, making you realise the seriousness of the situation at hand. The two “brown shirts” were members of the S.A, carrying out Hitler’s dirty work. This shows you that Nazis may seem like a prestigious unit, but everything is not as glorious as it seems behind the scenes. This would lead the audience to question the morals and beliefs of the Nazi party.
The Lion King was directed by Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff in 1994 and the scene/song that we were looking at is entitled “be prepared”. Scar is similar to Hitler in his tyranny and evilness. The film can be compared to Triumph of the Will in its shot composition: the camera always looks up at Scar and down at his followers, who grow in numbers very quickly like in real life and also like in Cabaret. Like Triumph Of The Will, the size of everything is exaggerated as Scar and Hitler both appear huge. The style of marching that the hyenas use is also the same as the Nazis used. This is known as goose stepping. Nearer to the beginning of the scene, Scar is shown above the hyenas which symbolises the fact that Hitler was superior to his followers. He gives his inferiors food which can be symbolised as giving someone an incentive for alliance and help.
Throughout all 4 films, Nazis are portrayed as amoral, heartless, racist humans. This is done by using techniques such as suspension of disbelief which will emotionally attach the audience to the film and make them question why the Nazis are performing such heartless acts. A good example of this is the shock created by the blood and gore in Schindler’s List. This makes the audience believe that Nazis are the height of evil, and gives them a negative attitude towards Nazism and fascism altogether.
