Holocausto

Holocaust has to rank up there as one of the best mini-series' ever. It has to be up there with Roots and Band of Brothers as some of the best that t.v. has ever offered. Holocaust works because it puts the horror of Hitler's Third Reich in very personal terms in the way it was presented from two families' perspectives. The performances were done very well, the storyline was not only good but very entertaining. It kept me riveted to the t.v. when it was on. This didn't need to be graphic to get the story across on the horrors of naziism and what Jews went through. In fact being form one Jewish families perspective makes the holocaust itself that much more personal and up close. This was definitely must see t.v.

If you were only to see one movie, one television series in your life about the Holocaust (and you should see more), this would be it.

It is the most wide-ranging, most thorough examination of what happened to central and eastern Europe's Jews between 1935 and 1945. The series focuses not on one camp: but on several (Auschwitz, Theresienstadt, Buchenwald, Sobribor - and hear much of Maidenek, Dachau, and others). We see the creation and changes in the ghetto in Warsaw (and hear of the ghettos in Vilnius and elsewhere). We see the evolution in the methods of killing Jews - and why. We see what happened to those deemed defectives at yet another camp.

With two exceptions, I found the acting (by a truly stunning cast - from Nigel Hawthorne to Ian Holm, from James Woods to T.P. McKenna, from Meryl Streep to David Warner, from Rosemary Harris to Sam Wanamaker, from Fritz Weaver to Tovah Feldshuh, Robert Stephens to Deborah Norton, Michael Moriarty) superb - truly moving and powerful. The two exceptions were the daughter Anna and the son Rudy played by Joseph Bottoms. This may not be entirely their fault - their parts are so underwritten - conventional.

The fantastic aspect of this series is its scope - you really do have a grounding in the Holocaust that would serve you well reading any history, seeing any movies set in this time.

The downside is that as fine as the acting is, the series is split among the stories of six to eight people over the course of a decade - which inevitably limits how moved the audience is by the story of each. Thus, in contrast to say, Schindler's List or The Pianist, we are not living and breathing with one person and what happens to him - we do not know these characters THAT well.

I would also criticize the series as creating such one-sidedly virtuous characters in the victims. We are interested in a character in drama only to the extent that the person seems real and we can therefore wholly identify with this real breathing person. Although we do have some feeling of how James Woods' character is different from say, Joseph Bottoms', it isn't sufficient to move the drama to the greatest heights. Actors don't come better than those in this series - so I think it's really due to the nature of the series - the need to get it all in and move around all the different experiences. This better serves our education, but somewhat reduces the sense of having suffered with each individual.

This was a great and enormously expensive production. It is very worthwhile renting - and should be shown to everyone above say, the age of 12 (I'd say that a younger age is too susceptible to the horror). NBC is to be commended highly for having developed it. It's tremendous.

One of the most outstanding television mini-series that was ever made. Obviously, this won the Emmy for best mini-series and was truly well deserved.

The story deals with the Weiss Family of Germany. They thought that they were true Germans never believing that they would be caught up in the madness of Hitler's Nazi Germany.

Despite the warnings of Dr. Weiss's patient,Dorf, who quickly rises in the Nazi hierarchy, the Weiss Family remains in Germany as Hitler seized power and the nightmare for the Jewish people begins.

This series made stars of Michael Moriarty.(Dorf) He plays the character drawn into the Nazi party with a chilling unfeeling for humanity rarely seen in movies. Dorf would be the typical character who would have said that he was forced into doing what he did since he was caught up in this period of frenzy. His ambitious, evil wife also helped push him into this way of life. Meryl Streep and James Woods also became well known as a result of this masterpiece production.

Nothing was hidden in making this grand production. You see the kosher butcher stores fall victim to Kristallnacht-the night of breaking glass. You see victims being marched off to the gas chambers.

This was certainly movie making at its best. Even the mini-series of todays are lacking in contact, interest and boldness of production.

I have read the other comments and was suprised to see a few people thought it was "boring" or not as good as Schindler's List. I actually watched this years ago as a young teen and recall being enthralled because of course other than history class it wasn't widely discussed. I knew more than most because my best friend's father lost his parents in the camps. Certainly it bogged down in parts but there were some superb performances and especially from Micheal Moriarty as a weak man molded by both his wife and his acceptance into the Nazi Party. It turns out oddly enough that Moriarty really is a bit loony. I don't think network TV would have the guts to attempt something as ambitious now and I am not sure that viewer's would be able to pay attention for such a long time. Yes it is flawed but I would implore anybody to watch it.

Reinhart Heydrich is known by historians as having been a uniquely dangerous member of the Hitler's inner circle, as the man was not only far more intelligent than the usual Nazi thug, but completely amoral as well. Both sides are superbly bought out by David Warner as his Heydrich reveals his philosophy to Michael Moriarty's Captain Dorf - it was the high point of the miniseries. It marked Warner for me as a thinking man's villain.