This is the story of how the city of Amsterdam used the tram system to effectively deport the entire Jewish population of the city during the Nazi Occupation.
This is a film that doesn’t play like other Holocaust films in that almost the entire film is told by the survivors of the deportation while they stand on the streets of the city or take a tram ride around it. The film begins symbolically with a tram leaving the depot and ends with a tram returning. This effectively bookends the story of the whole sad affair.
What I found most troubling was how the use of the tram mixed with the modern telling makes the whole thing deeply disturbing. The context makes the deportation quietly banal, which is what it was designed to be. The Nazi's didn't want a fuss. I was deeply bothered by it and completely came to understand why it all happened.
A word of warning about LOST CITY, when I originally saw the film I went through the film and it’s tale and I liked it, but I didn’t love it. However after the film was over and I was allowed to let the entire film wash over me I found I was becoming more and more disturbed by the implications of the film. As a result the film became not just a retelling of a historical event but a dire warning for a society on the edge of falling into darkness.
Recommended
How can we access this film?
ReplyDelete