Comparative Cinema (how to use Boy in Striped Pajamas or similar films)

[Pier Marton]

I sent these words to some Holocaust educators:

I finally watched Boy in Striped Pajama on a DVD (I had refused to spend the money/time/energy to see it on the big screen), and for me it is better done (in better taste) than La Vita e Bella, and thus worthy of my attention.

What I like about it has more to do with its potential impact, as Peter Fredlake wrote me, that it probably will be shown to students in classrooms and become an alternative to Schindler's List for many. A kind of new Ann Frank film, the Holocaust for children. And it becomes an easy way to discuss the fantasy/hoax of Wilkomirski
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binjamin_Wilkomirski_

In that sense the film becomes a worthy place to bring up, not the Holocaust itself, but the "Holocaust as a state of mind". We knew this would happen, and it is good it is happening in our lifetime when some of us, the children of survivors, might still be able to interact with that kind of statement or "posture".

So the challenge is ours, the educators, to think hard about responses, warnings and whatever else we would like to state about this kind of film, the films that take their inspiration, and only their inspiration from history. Yes, there is a feeling of veracity, and yes the strings are pulled, but that is not enough.
We have plenty of work awaiting us to formulate the best of our thinking.

So I think the film is important in the particular context of "Comparative Filmmaking" (like the recognized field of Comparative Literature) which should be a field in itself, how to read films, not just consume them nor be consumed by them.

[GLincoln]

Thank you, Pier, for bringing to our attention the need to focus on curriculum connections for The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. Both the book and movie have received much publicity. I am anxious to see how teachers will incorporate text and film into Holocaust studies.

In the meantime, I’ve attached a link to our library’s online catalog entry for the book which includes brief book reviews and a first chapter excerpt. I’ve also provided a film review by Rabbi Elliot Gertel that appeared in the December 10 edition of the Jewish Post and Opinion.

[Pier Marton]

Sentimentality 101?
Thanks Gigi, I appreciate your uploading that review and starting our conversation (or will it remain a dialogue?) but I am not sure whether I can be as enthusiastic as Rabbi Gertel towards the film.
The problem that I see in the film is not in the quality of the film, the imagination of the writer, nor the acting - all of those are fine, and that's where, from my point of view, the film becomes worthy of our discussion.
It is that a totally unrealistic story that is presented as "a form of reality" and put into place to produce emotion.
It is as if one would imagine a kind of "squeeze-emotion-device" that recycles real life events and pulls at your heart strings. Something more akin to what advertisers work on when they devise such new monstruosities as edutainment, infotainment, etc...
Boundaries between issues need to be seen as clearly as possible if we don't want to disappear in a mishmash or quicksands of not knowing anymore what the topics are.
Here we have, to use the terminology of semiotics, a series of floating signifiers, totally unattached to any reality, except that of entertainment "with a purpose".
Think of the cinema art house as a place to pull out our handkerchiefs without furthering our comprehension of world war II and what happened.
On that level, I have to say that the playwright Brecht had plenty to teach us in trying to create that "verfremdung" (alienation) effect in his writings (cf. the collection of essays, "Brecht on Theater").

[Pier Marton]

FYI I wrote more about this film in the Holocaust related film discussion.

[Dana Humphrey]

I am amazed that rabbis are giving this film such great reviews!!! Shocked in fact. Here is another review by Rabbi Ben Kamin that I received in a Google Alert:

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas should be viewed by every youngster in this country over the age of 9—it is just about the only Holocaust movie ever made that will teach a child about good and evil and innocence and what happened without gratuitously relying on the graphic images required for adults. The simplicity of this tale of devastatingly pure friendship between two boys on opposite sides of history’s barbed-wire fence is enough to turn your soul inside and out—a good thing. We cannot stop thinking about this little, searing narrative of men’s darkest motivations and children’s last stand.

Grateful we are that there are cinematic possibilies for making the soul wince.



Again, I have not seen the movie, but did read the book and I can't get past how unrealistic it is! It seems to me that it is dangerous to classify this as a film to teach about the Holocaust.

[Pier Marton]

DECONTEXTUALIZING
Thanks Dana for copying that text by Rabbi Kamin. It is amazing how "even Rabbis" can take things out of context and, plain and simple, ignore the original context of history in this way.

Unfortunately this principle is rampant in the culture at large, so even rabbis will fall into this "trap".

This is why at the Madison conference I wanted to hear from so-called cultural historians or semioticians, etc... People who understand how culture evolves.
It is not enough to know "history". What we call "history" evolves in the context of culture.

One book that I found useful in helping my more advanced students (at the university level) is Mythologies by Roland Barthes. I am sure there is another book out there that might do the job for high-school students. The linguist George Lakoff in his book "Don't think of an Elephant" emphasizes the importance of framing an issue.

[Darryle Clott]

I do not feel qualified to judge either the movie or the book without watching/reading them, but what i have heard from Holocaust educators is not favorable. That is why I was so interested in your take, Pier, since you teach film. I agree with Dana in being surprised that rabbis would praise the film. I find myself in the same position I have been in before say with Paper Clips. People who know I am a Holocaust educator want to share with me that they saw previews for this great movie (Striped PJ's), & I know that it isn't a true depiction, & that people I respect are rather horrified by the whole thing.
Darryle

[Pier Marton]

It helps to see some films we don't approve of so we can more easily engage with those who see them. Of course, there is a limit to that kind of activity.

I remember going to see the film The Grey Zone and remembering one of the etymologies of the word "obscene", something that should be "off-stage", not shown on stage.

I confess that I was not willing to see Boy in the Pajama in a theater and was glad I could "minimize" the impact of this film by watching it as a DVD screener (I review films).

[Dana Humphrey]

I was wondering how you saw it on DVD!! From my inquiries, it doesn't come out to the public until March.

[Pier Marton]

As I said earlier, I review films and have, from time to time, access to what are called "screeners", distributed to film reviewers for the purpose of being ready with a film review as a film opens.

[Pier Marton]

Unfortunately this rabbi has a following in his synagogue in San Diego, and a rabbi friend of mine also in San Diego IS using that book, so we have a lot of work to do to counter this trend!

Here is a quote that Rabbi Kamin, on his website, seems (in my view quite erroneously) proud of:
“Ben Kamin can talk to anybody about anything.”
—Congressman Louis Stokes, Cleveland, Ohio

Let people read Primo Levi, Jean Améry, etc... but not The Boy in Striped Pajamas!

[Pier Marton]

I just put together a list of films and books for a student on my campus.
Some of them are specifically reflecting a South American environment can be expanded - this is where educators can shine - to reflect other contexts.

Here is the list:
FILMS
Latin American perspective (and beyond):
Patricio Guzmán: La Batalla de Chile, and Chile, la memoria obstinada (all in the library)
Octavio Getino y Fernando SolanasLa Hora de Los Hornos: Notas y testimonios sobre el neocolonialismo, la violencia y la liberación.
Santiago Álvarez, 79 Primaveras
Sergio Giral, El Otro Francisco
Ruy Guerra, Os Fuzis
Nelson Pereira dos Santos, Rio Zona Norte, Vidas Secas
==
From the Jewish point of view (and beyond):
Claude Lanzman, Shoah, Sobibor
Marcel Ophuls, Hotel Terminus
Edgar Morin, Chronicle of a Summer features Marceline Loridan walking alone in Paris
===
BOOKS:
Hannah Arendt, The Jewish Writings, Reflections on Literature and Culture
Abraham Joshua Heschel, Moral Grandeur and Spiritual Audacity
Jean Améry, At the Mind's Limit (about torture and strength).
Frederic Grunfeld, Prophets without Honor: : a background to Freud, Kafka, Einstein and their world

[Anna Alpert]

I have seen the movie with a group of 50 middle school students in a casual setting. They moved around and talked quietly as was expected during most of the movie. There was no movement, no sound, during the last 15 minutes. All, and I mean ALL, eyes were riveted on the screen at that time. I agree with what you have said. The movie, in and of itself, is useless as a tool to actually teach the events and meaning of the holocaust. But, as a jumping off point, used by an informed teacher, it can be extremely useful. By the way, Rabbis are people with all the imperfections that we all have. Unfortunately, because of the title, we give them more power/knowledge than they themselves may want.