Human Failure
Reviews:
Reconciling the Past
by Uri Klein Haaretz Daily Newspaper
German film director Michael Verhoeven, who is currently here as a guest of the Jerusalem Film Festival, is known in Is-rael mainly by virtue of one film: his sharp satire "The Nasty Girl" from 1990, which tells the story of Sonja, a high school student in a small Ger¬man town who decides to write an article that will re¬veal the deeds of the town's inhabitants during the Third Reich. At first the townspeo¬ple object politely to Sonja's intention to reveal their past, and when politeness proves unproductive they employ violence against her. This excellent film was an inter¬national success, won many prizes and was nominated for an Oscar in the best foreign film category. More
Synopsis:
The expropriation of assets from German Jews, during the Third Reich, benefitted virtually every other German citizen. It was not the Gestapo who invaded Jewish residences in order to confiscate all property, from bank accounts to the last shirt, it was the German Tax officials.
A bizarre competition evolved between bureaucrats as to how to organize the rob-bery of the Jews before they were expelled, or sent to their deaths.
Larger assets went to the tax offices, and the smaller assets and goods were sold to friends and neighbors in public auctions of “Non-Aryan“ property.
Many of the documents proving this expropriation were lost or destroyed;
the ones that remained were hidden away.
A search for traces...
Awards:
2009 Jerusalem Film Festival - Yad Vashem Chariman's Award, Jewish Experience Section
2009 Berlin Jewish Film Festival -Top Prize for German Documentaries on Jewish Themes
Film Details:
Country of Origin: Germany, 2008
Original Language: German
Running Time: 91min
Director: Michael Verhoeven
Writers: Luise Lindermair, Michael Verhoeven
Rashevski's Tango