A Film Unfinished (2010)

Even though it’s already more than sixty years ago since the second world war happened, the events that took place during this war still make a big impression. It’s almost impossible to comprehend what the Nazis did with people and it has been the subject of hundreds of movies. A Film Unfinished is a documentary about the ghetto in Warsaw, one of the biggest that was created by the Nazis.

The film uses footage that was shot by the Germans and which was found in an archive. The movie was never finished and the footage consists of various scenes that were shot in the ghetto. Director Yael Hersonski uses the images to give the viewer an idea of the things that were going on. As the original footage didn’t have sound Hersonski has used several sources to tell the story and give the footage a lot of weight.

Sources which are used are a diary, which makes it clear that a lot of scenes were actually set up and don’t the reality of living in those poor conditions. Another source was an interview with one of the cameraman, which has been recreated with actors. It shows the way he looked at the work he did. The footage is shown to survivors of the holocaust, who watch it with a lot of pain and comment on what they see.

There is a lot of shocking footage and it doesn’t take long to realize how bad these people had it. Many died of starvation and it was normal to have bodies on the street daily, to be picked up and buried. These are images which might be something you will have seen before, but no matter how many times you see them, they leave a lasting impression. A Film Unfinished is an important movie as it focusses on one of the many horrible parts of the second world war and tells a compelling story which you will not forget.

Score: 9