Haunted by the Past: Ways of Remembering the Holocaust on Film

A considerable number of television and theatrical documentaries, in which historians, survivors and witnesses provide commentary and testimony, have been devoted to the subject of the Holocaust. While documentary films have generally been considered appropriate ways to treat the subject of the Holocaust, dramatized films are much more likely to encounter criticism. Two recent feature films concerned with the Holocaust have not aroused the controversies that accompanied 'Schindler's List' and 'Life is Beautiful' and may, as a result, have been overlooked by many viewers. 'Fateless' and 'Everything is Illuminated' are two films, which are alike in two respects: they did not get the attention they deserved, and were both adapted from critically acclaimed works of literature, but otherwise they are very different in approach. An attempt is made to demonstrate why they deserve attention and to illustrate the differences between them.