Le photographe de Mauthausen

About some very brave people at a horrible time in our history

It's so important that risk they took to document for all time what happened at Mauthausen is told to the world.

I don't want to say something nasty about this movie; it would be unfair. The production design and overall work deserves much respect, but unfortunately there were a couple of elements that bothered me. First the characters of the prisoners look - at least most of them - rather good fed and athletics. But I know it is difficult to put lots of people on a crash diet, as Chistian Bale or Tom Hanks did in the past for their roles. Second, as in 99% of films about Nazis - army or Concentration camps - Germans are Always shown as idiots, and this for many details. Germans during WW2 were cruel, barbarians, everything you wish, everything BUT IDIOTS. If they had been so, they would have not spread so much terror in the whole Europe from Norway to Sicily - I Don't even mention North Afrika and Rommel's Afrika Korps - and from Atlantic coast to Russia....So please Don't confound Nazi ideology, which was of course totally idiot and criminal with master race, antisemitism, racism, and GERMAN discipline, order and efficiency spirit. So back to this film, it is not the best ever about concentration camps. I have seen Polish or Russian movies from the sixties and seventies, shot in black and white, far more realistic than this one. But it remains a good film, Don't misunderstand me. One last thing, I saw in the feature an interesting shot, showing four men in a car, with the camera just in front of the wind shield, a shot which was ofteen used by the great French director Jean-Pierre Melville; a shot very rarely shown since many décades now. At least I guess....Maybe this is a tribute from the Spanish director to Melville and his awesome ARMY OF SHADOWS. Which you have this shot, of course.

Along with "Schindler's List," this is a stark, brutal re-enactment of actual events in possibly the most brutal and horrendous of all the concentration camps, Mauthausen. The film faithfully chronicles a true story... perhaps too faithfully for the faint of heart to watch. This finely acted film, which must have been excruciating for the actors to work on, is a must-see for its historical value, not for casual amusement (there's nothing amusing about sadism, unless you're a Nazi). The recreation of scenes the real photographer captured is amazing for their detailed accuracy, and the film brilliantly brings the images, originally captured in black and white, to life. I rated this film an "8", which I deem a very high rating, only because production values were not of top-notch calibre... but, then, they really didn't need to be for this film. The setting, along with the acting, was perfectly believable as is, and you'll be sucked into a nightmare as soon as the film begins... and stay there until the last few minutes. That alone makes this film a huge success.

While it can sometimes get very chessy and the low budget is aparent, this is still a interesting story with a very unique point of view and capable actors. Give it a watch if it sounds good to you! You won't be dissapointed.

If you are interested in Holocaust during the World War II this is another one not to miss. A true story perfectly documented with many proofs. The scenarios are original and I really felt to be in this nightmare created by the Nazis. The actors delivered great performances. Bravo. It gets 10/10.