Night Will Fall

2014
8| 1h15m| NR| en
Details

When Allied forces liberated the Nazi concentration camps in 1944-45, their terrible discoveries were recorded by army and newsreel cameramen, revealing for the first time the full horror of what had happened. Making use of British, Soviet and American footage, the Ministry of Information’s Sidney Bernstein (later founder of Granada Television) aimed to create a documentary that would provide lasting, undeniable evidence of the Nazis’ unspeakable crimes. He commissioned a wealth of British talent, including editor Stewart McAllister, writer and future cabinet minister Richard Crossman – and, as treatment advisor, his friend Alfred Hitchcock. Yet, despite initial support from the British and US Governments, the film was shelved, and only now, 70 years on, has it been restored and completed by Imperial War Museums under its original title "German Concentration Camps Factual Survey".

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Reviews

Kattiera Nana I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.
Vashirdfel Simply A Masterpiece
Forumrxes Yo, there's no way for me to review this film without saying, take your *insert ethnicity + "ass" here* to see this film,like now. You have to see it in order to know what you're really messing with.
Senteur As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.
elhoggo-08306 I saw a documentary on this on TV some time back and bought the video expecting to see the actual remastered film in its entirety. Sadly its not there. Where is it? We are told of how the Imperial War Museum has obtained and restored the film and I was expecting to see it here. Without it, this is simply a documentary, albeit an extremely good one. The content itself is moving, harrowing and essential viewing if we are to learn from the atrocities of the past. I can't fault the quality and content of the documentary itself or the extra features. But to see the actual film as had been originally commissioned would have been even more powerful a message.
indiedavid As I watched this gut wrenching documentary, I found it hard to believe that there are people in the western world who think we should not take every means necessary to eradicate groups like ISIS. We have a holocaust unfolding before our very eyes on the internet and television, yet millions of people are against taking action against these barbaric, ideologically driven monsters. Perhaps we have become so pampered by our luxurious lives that we can compartmentalize those actions as "someone else's problem" or taking place in a "place far from home". Maybe we are too cowardly to make personal sacrifice for the greater good of humanity. Maybe we have become too optimistic, thinking that there is good in all people. As someone who has faced these "people" face to face, I can assure you that there is nothing redeeming about these demons. They would rape your infant daughter right in front of you, decapitate her and laugh in your face with absolutely no remorse. If we allow this enemy to strengthen, our society has about 5-7 years left.
dougdoepke The imagery is searing. Yes, the finished documentary is loosely assembled, as others point out. But then it's the graphic horrors that count. At 75, I've seen the hellish horrors in other documentaries. Nonetheless, the tale must be told every generation, and what could be more persuasive than such footage. I'm glad the filming comes from a number of death camps, showing the systematic nature of the extermination, and what, I think, most any of us are capable of given certain conditions.I am sorry that footage showing the gas chambers was apparently not yet available. That would further demonstrate the murderous Nazi intent. I've heard apologists claim that the mounds of emaciated dead resulted from a wartime lack of food, not the result of intentional starvation. Still, those German civilians parading through the camps do look well fed. Too bad that more isn't detailed about how the documentary got caught up in the politics of the day. As a result the film ended up filed away for decades. That appears an interesting story deserving of more explanation. Also, the interviews with survivors bring a bygone time to life, and are often as wrenching as the past is. For them, the reality of the camps is still a vivid presence.No, the 75-minutes are not entertaining, as others point out. Nonetheless, the visible record of "human junk piles" presents an opportunity for our deepest reflection.
bastard-cynical As above, a factual and irrefutable documentary about the appalling conditions experienced in concentration camps, and the simply dreadful outcome suffered by so many of those who were interned.The scenes were graphic and disturbing, and if they seem repetitive, then that is because the atrocities were so commonplace. It was not a performance, the film is a factual record, thus the purpose in making it was to educate those who want to know the truth, not to entertain anyone.As the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz fell this week, I felt that this film serves to help educate all of us who who were not even born at the time of such events. To help us understand the depths of depravity that mankind is capable of, to help us to understand the dreadful consequences of any kind of racism and to remind us that it shouldn't be necessary to have a war to draw allies together (how many people are aware that a staggering 26M Russians were killed in the process of defeating the Nazis?) A monumental and depressing work, brought together as a lesson to us all that this must never happen again