Nuit et Brouillard

Nuit et Brouillard, Alain Resnais’s film made in 1956, should not be collecting dust. It is more relevant and necessary today than ever – night and fog. A film we should watch – to remember, and watch again – to remember. Especially in times like these, when things get cloudy. A remarkable documentary, Nuit takes us on a train ride through misery and the abominable reality of, in this case, the Second World War. Resnais won’t let us forget the horrors of the Nazi concentration camps or individual complacency. With text by Jean Cayrol, the film is a reflection on the origins of evil."People go on living their every day lives…" The images, the story, the film, the documentation of a history of nights and fog, conversely point out our responsibility."I’m not responsible. I’m not responsible. I’m not responsible." The black and white film should be required material for history classes everywhere on earth. The film begins with images of people obligingly loading trains. We go with them. The film continues with images of the effects of torture. We are there. The film shows us confusion."What the hell is going on here?" Then the film ends. The camps were liberated. In the late 1930 and 40s, those images were in the papers. People heard about the horrors on the radio – while eating breakfast, while working, while sitting in the barbershop or at the local brew house. People listened to the highest of all – the commandant. “He pretends to know nothing of the camp." Resnais’s film is our conscience. "Are their faces really different from ours?"