Akke Stretch

It is tense, harrowing…the more so because it is based on fact. The Holocaust is often depicted by seeing shots of the horrors that befall Jews in the murder camps. Here the horror is enlarged because we hear the sounds and ‘smells’ of cruelty and mayhem not the deeds: gun shots, smoke belching from crematoriums, screams, trains arriving, dogs barking. Juxtaposed to the fresh faced German family living a wall away from hell, the film is brutal in making one imagine the worst which was indeed the worst. Setting, acting, screen play… impeccable. Prescient.

Not one to enjoy in the least, Star Snores or similar ilk, I found Dune riveting. I watched it as less sci-fi and more as an apocalyptic film. It was believable in it’s plot, scenery and character development. The New Yorker gave it a very excruciating thumbs down.