Genocide (1982)

Genocide (1981)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Elizabeth Taylor and Orson Welles narrate this Oscar-winning documentary that takes a look at the horrors Jews had to suffer at the hands of Hitler and Germany during WWII. The documentary starts off talking about what life was like for the Jews pre-WWII and year by year it gives a rundown of how things were changing and eventually getting to the point where it turned to mass murder. GENOCIDE isn't an easy film to watch but it's certainly an important one that takes a look at a very important subject. I think film buffs will enjoy the quality behind the material and if anyone is doing research for a school project or whatnot then there's certainly a lot of information here about these tragic events. It should also be said that there are some very graphic photos and videos here of people in horrific physical shape and countless images of death. The images of a hole dug fifteen feet into the ground and filled with bodies is something you can never get over or used to no matter how many times you see it. We hear about the "Angel of Death," a German doctor who was doing experiments on people including removing body parts and trying to change genetics so that Germany could create one race. The brutality of these images are impossible to forget and it's just amazing that anyone could do this type of thing. Welles' narration is perfect and he hits all the right notes and of course that voice is just something you could listen to all day. Taylor, on the other hand, is good at times but there are moments where she just goes way over the top. In one of the most horrifying sequences, a woman gets thrown into a hole full of bodies and more bodies are being thrown on her and she has to dig her way out from all the bodies. This is emotional enough without having Taylor's narration adding all sorts of dramatics to it. I think there were times where her emotional narration wasn't needed. With that said, the documentary is still very impressive and is worth watching if you can take the graphic subject matter.