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It has been months since Der Untergang first premiered. For one reason or another, I kept postponing it, month after month, country after country. Luck dictated I should see it on May 9th 2005, in Hannover, Germany. The 60th anniversary of the Armistice in Europe. The day we celebrate an united Europe (that same Europe that Robert Schumman kicked-off in the 50s and still works in preventing further wars). To make it clear: I am not German. Yet, for more than a few reasons, the history of the Second World War always touched me in a particular way. Not that it was any different from so many other wars. Except for the numbers. Never did human cruelty climbed to such levels. Never did we realize as then, how easy can society mutate into a monster. This was a highly intense movie to watch. Bruno Ganz will for ever be remembered as the magisterial actor that played Hitler - as Ben Kingsley is remembered for Gandhi. We see him in this film as a madman. There is no other way to describe it. He was insane. An insane man led the world to collapse, brought Humanity to its knees, and did so unquestioned. Der Untergang is full of strong imagery - it shouldn't matter if those in the streets were German or not. The human misery is total. I could not contain my tears in many occasions (not titanic tears, rather those that come from the depth, those that imply something beyond the screen. tears of History). In others, I simply had to close or cover my eyes, so brutal were the scenes. And as we come to an end, I am, as viewer, left with a sense of emptiness. The credits came, ran for 10 minutes, and I just sat there, crying compulsively for 10 minutes. Not due to the film, but to all that is behind it.

As I exited the theatre, I noticed a few other people drying their faces. Outside, the cold had returned. The wind blew strong and icy, some rain drops fell on me. And I walked. I wandered in the cold rain for one hour. I can only think of two other films that left me this disoriented, this helpless.

It should never happen again. Never.

Do not be deceived - I'll start with the low points and rise to apotheosis. Do not miss this flick!

Surprisingly enough, gay men and women have been allowed to serve in the Israeli army for over 2 decades now (for very pragmatic reasons, I'm sure). The army actually authorized the making of this film, based on a true story. Eytan Fox follows up with his favorite theme of sexual identity within the ranks of the army: here we see a gay couple, two officers, whose love shares its space with an ever-escalating Israelo-Arab conflict. The movie is filmed in this army outpost in the mountains bordering Lebanon, in the middle of Winter (thus the snow, that one seldom relates to the Middle East).

The theme is ambitious. Yet, it turns out that, for commercial reasons, the movie's 65 minutes elapse too fast. There is no time to develop the story. Not the story of the conflict, not the story of the different characters - so many deeply interesting -, and especially not the story of Yossi and Jagger. And boy, would we like to know more about them! These 65 minutes may have been OK for the theatre play that staged in Tel Aviv before the movie opened, but on screen it just leaves your mouth watering for more. I wished some scenes would have been deeper and more intense (the get-together at the end, or that last key-scene at night).

Despite all this, if you can forgive small formal nuisances, and get over that irritating camera-in-hand that works for Dogma but not for Fox, this film is a must-see! For the first 30 minutes of it, I had a disbelieving smile on my lips, and really wanted to joint the Israeli army - mind you, I'm neither Jewish, nor Israeli, and they would never take me! Yet life in the barracks seems so laid-back and so easy-going , so much in contrast with the madness of the conflict, with crazy girls and sexy boys, cheesy music in Hebrew and techno parties in the mountain clusters, white snow and great landscape, wild rabbits and sushi at dinner... Provided my officers looked as cute and handsome and so-damn-sexy-and-hugable-Yehudi-Levi (Jagger), of course I would enlist.

Mild as it may seem at times, it's perhaps the most consequent movie on a gay theme that I have ever seen. No tragic queens, no dramatic depressions and people who threaten to slid their wrists open. Yossi & Jagger's love is real and palpable, even if semi-secret (I think everyone new, anyway). The actors are superb, natural-born to the task, and that shows. One can easily relate with many of the characters - people whom we forget are people, just because they are in the army, just because they are in a war. The scene where Yossi and Jagger kiss in the snow is surprising, and by far the most sensuous thing I've seen in cinema in years! Absolutely delicious, playful, teasing, masterful. A classic in the future, I'm sure! Maybe because of that particular scene, one can survive as a viewer to the end of the movie, and still feel light as a feather. It all seems to end up in a good note, in spite of the circumstances.

The film as is, is not brilliant, but is at times a strike of genius! It's also a splash in the pond, showing you the dichotomies of a society we grew to relate with war and nothing else. Yossi & Jagger is a tender, sweet, sensuous, pure, honest, scrumptious, beautiful, sexy and consequent movie. I am a fan of Eytan Fox as of tonight, no doubt about that! Watch it, watch it, watch it!!! (the extras on the DVD give you even greater insight into his work). The storyline won't leave you that soon, and the main theme-song will replay on your head for weeks to come... cheesy and queenly as it may be ('Come', by Rita)!

Watching a film like this oddly makes you feel as good as when you watched 'Amelie'! I don't say this often, but I'd be ready to watch it all over again.

It's no secret that this film caused a lot of controversy, stirred many lakes, revolted many people and moved many more. All of us will have different interpretations of it. The one undeniable fact, however, is that what we see on the screen happened. As is. No law and peace-abiding Nation did a thing to prevent it. All those who could flee, fled. The rest is history.

Don Cheadle has a break-through role in his career. The role of a man who, saving the distances, reminds me of other brave people such as Schindler or Aristides de Sousa Mendes, whom in extreme circumstances, and going beyond their very human fears and flaws, did the right thing. Nick Nolte doesn't have a brilliant role. Actually, as flimsy as the helplessness the poor Canadian Colonel felt in real life, probably.

Hotel Rwanda is a real eye-opener. It reminds everyone that the news have a human face. What happened there in the 90s is nowadays happening in Sudan (and has been for years!) as in other places: people are simply getting killed for nothing. That's the bottom line. Some will say that's the way the world is. Those are the cynical. That is not the way the world should be. We screamed never again. Yet, here it is again, asking for a new script in 2015: Hotel Khartum. The acting is not superb. The script aims at telling a story, but also at making the movie a real tear-jerker.

But if one thinks about all those that survived the Genocide and are perhaps thankful for the story, then it had to be worth making it. Despite the lack of help, no one will now be able to forget.

Any human being must feel ashamed of himself while watching it. It's a civil offense in most democracies to see someone in need of help and doing nothing. There isn't a more extreme example. We all shoved it under the carpet and pretended it wasn't there. Hotel Rwanda stands as a memory. To face us with our passiveness, it should be mandatory.