The Photographer of Mauthausen (2018) User Reviews (38)

Slow buildup but ultimately chilling

[anthonyjlangford · 8/10 · 29 December 2019]

In 1989, I was 22 and visited Mauthausen. I met a Polish man there who had been a prisoner during the war. He was 75 and had not been back since. The travel guide was informing the group I was with, that there were three prisoners to a bunk. The polish man had to correct him, via his companion who translated, that there were actually 6 to a bed. There's no doubt that the Spaniards received far better treatment than the Jews did. It's evident in the film and some research reveals what horrors the Jews endured. We get a sense of the horror there but we never get a real close look at it. Perhaps that's for the best. There are other Holocaust films far more brutal than this one. I wouldn't even call this a Holocaust film.

Having said that, this is telling the story of the photographer and a true story at that, which is what makes it so compelling. People unable to relate to the characters or challenging the special effects, need to check their humanity. Some even criticise the treatment of the SS in the film. They were much worse in reality. Again, do some reading. Do people read anymore?

The second half of the film is more tense as the risks increase. They were brave in what they tried to achieve.

The stairs of death don't feature a lot but still, seeing them again gave me chills. The Kapos were brutal in all the camps. That depiction was accurate.

There are further stories of Mauthausen to be told but perhaps the reality was bad enough. The stories are out there if people dig around a little.

A solid film and a fascinating side note to a much broader, more horrific aspect of genocide.

Brooding film retelling the merciless and ruthless life of the inmates who lived in the camp of Mauthausen

[ma-cortes · 7/10 · 5 August 2020]

Based on real events about Francesc Boix (1920-1951) , a notorious Spanish man , he was a veteran of the Spanish Civil War and photographer who was imprisoned in the Mauthausen concentration camp. At the Nuremberg and Dachau trials he presented photographs that played a role in the conviction of Nazi war criminals.

This is an exciting and moving biography about the camp concentration inmate Frances Boix , containg emotion , chills , thrills and astonishing images . Concerning the brutal existence of the inmates who lived in the camp of Mauthausen, where between others there are the soldiers who fought and lost in the Spanish Civil War, exiled from Spain by General Franco after winning the war . Mario Casas gives an acceptable acting as the Republican communist in the Nazi concentration camp of Mauthausen in Austria who attempts to save the evidences of the cruel horrors committed inside its walls. He is well accompanied by a good support cast , such as : Alain Hernández , Richard van Weyden , Stefan Weinert , Nikola Stojanovic, Salazar , Franc Reyes , and Macarena Gómez . Futhermore , adequate and atmospheric Cinematography by Aitor Mantxola . And sensitive , appropriate musical score by Diego Navarro. The film was professionally made by Mar Targarona , though it has some flaws and gaps . She is a notorious producer , including titles as Orfanato, El habitante incierto, X3PD, Vivancos, Quien mato a Bambi , Las manos del pianista and El cuerpo directed by Oriol Paulo. Mar has directed a few films such as : ¨Secuestro¨ and this ¨Boix photographer of Mauthausen¨ and series as ¨Muere mi vida¨ and ¨Abuela de verano¨ . Rating 6.5/10 . Well worth watching

Based on actual events about Frances Boix : A Spanish republican who was exiled in France in 1939. He was recruited by the French Foreign Legion and French Army and captured in 1940 by the Germans. Boix, like over 7,000 Spaniards, was an inmate in the Mauthausen concentration camp between January 1941 and May 1945. From the end of August 1941 he worked in the Erkennungsdienst, the photography department of the camp administration, taking ID photos of inmates and documenting events in the camp. He was able to hide and preserve until liberation about 20,000 negatives taken by the SS head of the department, Paul Ricken , as well as by himself. On January 28 and 29, 1946 at the Nuremberg trial (International Military Tribunal), Boix was called by the French prosecution to show photographs taken by the SS in Mauthausen. Those photos depicted the conditions in which the prisoners lived and were murdered in that camp. They were also proof that the camp was known and visited by high leaders of the Third Reich, such as Ernst Kaltenbrunner, who appeared visiting both the Mauthausen camp proper, and the Wienergraben quarry adjacent to the camp. In April 1946 Boix was again a witness, this time in the American military trial that took place in Dachau against 61 accused from the Mauthausen camp. Between 1945 and 1951 Boix worked as a photo reporter in the French press,particularly for a newspaper associated with the French Communist Party. He died in Paris on 7 July 1951 from kidney failure at age 31.

Important Story

[bryangary65 · 8/10 · 4 March 2019]

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.

Could have been a bit better....

[searchanddestroy-1 · 6/10 · 26 March 2019]

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.

Great.

[JJthebat · 7/10 · 26 February 2019]

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.

A pitiful attempt to show horror with simple means

[DLochner · 6/10 · 28 June 2020]

The film is okay. But unfortunately not more. And just -okay- shouldn't be a film about concentration camps. With all due respect for the historical events, the film is unfortunately too clean and unreal. With the exception of a few scenes, the concentration camp does not look like the terrible place the Nazis created. But even if that were the case, the actors and the entire implementation did not do justice to their hero, nor did the story. The recordings and costumes look much too clean and the same as a simple TV film. Not that TV films are bad, but for a film about such a gruesome chapter in history you should be a little more passionate. A pitiful to depict the horror with the simplest means.

Worms

[farstars86 · 7/10 · 2 March 2021]

And one can't trust worms... Because no matter how many you eat... Then, they'll eat you in the end.

Cool movie 👌

Respectfully, boring.

[Eldar333 · 26 February 2019]

Not much to say here, its just too slow, and too boring. Nazis are so stereotypical, totally un-convincing, and portrayed like complete maniacs and lunatics that kill people at their own family parties and infront of their own children... now I'm not saying nazis were cool guys, or that they were not seriously messed up people, but this is just too much and not an accurate portrayal. The movie will give you a decent looking setup, with a pretty boring, slow story and badly portrayed Nazis. So if you miss this one, thats completely fine, its better to use your time for something else anyway. 4/10

Good

[mfellipecampos · 7/10 · 27 March 2020]

The film takes place during the second world war and describes what was going on inside the concentration camp of mauthausen. It is impressive how new narratives always appear from different regions that were affected by the Nazi regime and the war in general. The photographer in question, in addition to fighting for survival every day, was also concerned with ensuring that the atrocities committed were disclosed so that justice could be done.

Horrifying and gripping

[sallytyro · 10/10 · 4 March 2019]

I don't understand some of the low scores and comments on it being unengaging and hard to empathise/connect with the characters.

I was gripped from the start and was with the characters all the way. It was horrifying and at points edge of your seat. I was also really struck by the end titles, which showed some of the original photographs that were eventually rescued from destruction. You could tell that a lot of research had gone into the film, to get the staging of these photographs right.

It's a story that I knew nothing about and I'm glad it's been told. Would definitely recommend this film.

Story so good it's makes up for some disappointments.

[costafic · 7/10 · 19 March 2020]

Beautifully made movie, the story of an under appreciated resistance force within Nazi Europe was inspiring. However the dialogue (even when understood in Spanish) offers little intensity and scenes are dragged out or over-elaborated. Definitely worth a watch for the little piece of history it offers.

An extremely underrated film. A must watch.

[amodsandeepa · 9/10 · 22 February 2019]

A film that brilliantly portays the true horrors committed by the Nazis and how the victims fought back. The filmography is quite elegant and so was the acting. The 6.5 rating(at the time of writing) is quite an understatement.

Gripping WWII testimonial

[manugw · 7/10 · 20 March 2019]

The typical set up of a concentracion camp drama, frightened prisoners and evil soldiers. This time a former Spanish soldier, trainee of the official nazi photographer of the harrowing events in the camp is determined to let the world know the atrocities happening there planning to steal several film negatives. A different story, solid, with some breathtaking twists. Based on true events

An obscure fact of the holocaust with a rather tepid telling.

[dundeal78 · 5/10 · 27 February 2019]

Overall not a bad movie, but I found it slow, a little prone to cliché, and oddly distant. I found it hard to become emotionally engaged. The characters, even the man playing Boix, sort of bled together and it became difficult to find a way to attach to any of them. They were rather interchangeable. While I understand the focus was primarily on an administrative department of what was arguably to most brutally operated of the labor camps, the brutality that was a daily fact of life in Mauthausen was only occasionally brought to bear, and even then it felt like an afterthought. I also agree that the SS were essentially cardboard stereotypes, spotless uniforms and sporting a perpetual craggy grimace. I didn't feel they needed a more "human" treatment, but they were just as interchangeable as the rest of the cast. A well shot film, and mores so that it had an obviously limited budget, but I think if failed in the aspect of basic storytelling.

Overall, a good film

[blythspyrte63 · 6/10 · 25 February 2019]

I really liked the way the film was shot with stark images. The majority of actors were excellent, but there were a few people "playacting" in this movie, especially the little boy playing Ziereis's son. Very shallow and overacted and I found it took away from an excellent film.

Superb

[hawaiialin · 10/10 · 27 May 2019]

Excellent excellent excellent, this is a must see movie, on the scale of large budget Hollywood flicks, with a limited budget. It will move you, and remember based on true account and pictures.

It's perfectly done

[Luigi Di Pilla · 10/10 · 23 February 2019]

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.

This story, which is part of the holocaust, deserved better production

[sandino_owen · 5/10 · 9 March 2019]

1.The bad visual effects are noticed. 2.There are very boring moments in the film because the computer scenery is poorly designed and the scenes inside the barracks are not good. 3.It does not show the reality of the concentration camp or the actors could 4.demonstrate in their performance the anguish that the SS produces. 5.It was not produced and directed with historical data. 6.Regular performances.

Excellent Addition to Holocaust Films

[AJ_McAninch · 9/10 · 25 February 2019]

Inspiring story of Francisco Boix, a hero of the Holocaust who preserved his and other photographic archives of Mauthausen at great cost to himself in the camp and afterwards. Historically, the artist survived but died at 30 in 1951 of kidney failure, which is so sad in that he survived the Holocaust only to die so young. Still, though very difficult to watch, the film is important and well done. And the outcome of the story for the lives of those who survived is righteous.

Worth the time

[rillerqueiroz · 10/10 · 25 February 2019]

Interesting point of view, and stunning story. Most of it because most WWII movies is about America's victory above Germany. In this movie you can see the Spanish suffering during the war. And also is a true story, fact that makes the movie greater.

Hard to engage with

[oscarrivero-55249 · 5/10 · 28 February 2019]

I just found it very difficult to connect with. Lack of emotions.

A film that will suck you into a nightmare that really did come true

[TheReelMovieMaven · 8/10 · 9 March 2019]

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.

Intense and surreal

[pinkprincessgirl · 8/10 · 18 March 2019]

I thought this film was great, intense and kept me guessing and hoping the hidden films would see the pight of day. Was also surprised it was based on true events. i reccommend if you are into intense story telling rather than silly themes and plots!

Not much..

[noshame_lars · 3/10 · 23 February 2019]

A Spanish talking low budget movie! Wish they had invested some more on the effects ect and maybe this movie could be something.

Great movie

[recepvesek · 10/10 · 24 February 2019]

I loved this movie. There is nothing wrong with this film. Plot , acting, story telling are absolutely 10 stars. You'll love it...