It’s been said before and it is well-worth repeating: As time passes, the world is becoming increasingly separated from World War II and the Holocaust. The youngest concentration camp survivors now are senior citizens and Elie Wiesel, one of the most justifiably celebrated survivors, recently passed away. His death at age 87 serves as a sobering reminder of the passage of time and the fear that the Holocaust just may fade into history.
One way to keep its memory alive is by making movies that deal in one way or another with the Holocaust. In recent years, quite a few have been screened at the Toronto International Film Festival. A number of them are set after the war but explore Holocaust-related issues. They include LABYRINTH OF LIES, THE PEOPLE VS. FRITZ BAUER, SARAH’S KEY, and the appropriately-titled REMEMBER. Additionally, SON OF SAUL, which is set during the war in Auschwitz, deservedly earned last year’s Best Foreign Film Academy Award.
Well, at this year’s festival, Holocaust history is explored yet again in DENIAL, which also has just opened theatrically. DENIAL, scripted by David Hare and directed by Mick Jackson, is the fact-based account of Deborah Lipstadt (Rachel Weisz), a historian and writer who was sued for libel by David Irving (Timothy Spall), a revisionist historian and Holocaust denier. A film like DENIAL begs to be seen because it acknowledges that disavowals of the Holocaust do exist and must never, ever undermine the historical record.
Then there is PAST LIFE, an Israeli film “inspired by a true story,” that is written and directed by AviNesher. PAST LIFE does not feature the star power of DENIAL, but it is just as worthy of being seen and discussed. The year is 1977 and the central character is Sephi (Joy Rieger), a young Israeli singer-songwriter-pianist who is performing in West Germany. She is well-aware of what Germany once was, once upon a recent time. After the concert, she and a colleague are eyed by some young men and she casually observes that, three decades earlier, they might have been yelling “Heil Hitler!” at them.
But then an older woman questions her and determines the identity of her father, who is a doctor practicing in Jerusalem, and she berates Sephi for being “the daughter of a murderer.” Is the woman delusional, or is her accusation true? And if it is, what is that truth? Was Sephi’s father a Nazi who massacred Jews and escaped retribution after the war? Or is there more to the story? She knows that her father can be a bully and can be physically abusive, but does this make him a Nazi war criminal? So Sephi and her sister Nana (Nelly Tagar) begin an investigation in which they set out to uncover the facts regarding their father and his past.
On one level, PAST LIFE is a personal drama which asks a question that can be germane to any offspring. That is: How do you respond when you sense that your father is not who you think he is? But the film also is yet another tale of the Holocaust and how the events of the era irrevocably impacted the lives of those who were not yet born when Hitler and the Nazis were ruling Germany.
At one point, Sephi’s mother puts forth a certain point of view when she observes: “We should think of the beautiful things in our life. Why bring up the past?” On the one hand, one can appreciate her sentiment but, still, the past just may have a formidable grip on the present: a grip that cannot be casually cast aside. The past also may be denied or rewritten, as is the case with David Irving. Ultimately, however, another question may be asked, and it is one that may be debated well into the night. And that is: Is it ever time to forgive? Can one ever forgive?
Rob Edelman has authored or edited several dozen books on film, television, and baseball. He has taught film history courses at several universities and his writing has appeared in many newspapers, magazines, and journals. His frequent collaborator is his wife, fellow WAMC film commentator Audrey Kupferberg.
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