Word: lanzmann
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1980-1989
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Lanzmann is obsessed with detail. "Excuse me," he will ask. "But what time in the morning was it? Six or seven a.m.? What color were the vans that took the Jews away?" Other critics who find fault with such meticulousness are missing the point of Lanzmann's goal: to render real experience in all its richness--not to interpret or to impose anything else. And these memories, which speak eloquently for themselves, in turn create new memories--from the painful to the exhilarating--for those who hear them...
There is the former Nazi official whom Lanzmann interviews clandestinely at his home, reminding him of his responsibility as deputy director of the Warsaw ghetto, and filling in details as he interviews. "It was July 7, 1941? That's the first time I've relearned a date," says the small, white-haired Dr. Franz Grassler. "May I take notes? After all, it interests me too. So in July I was already there...
...Lanzmann's genius--and the source of the film's power--is his ability to gauge exactly what he wants and can get from each interview. He is by turns gentle, coaxing, disbelieving, and confrontational with those he interviews. It is as though he can. feel exactly to what degree each subject is willing to recount experiences, and just what his limits are. And he knows precisely how far he can push each interview, each subject, to get what he wants. While he will take 20 minutes to coax a group of villagers to describe what life was like with...
...Lanzmann, at times, is incredibly subtle. Without condescension or harassment, usually patient, he is always on just the right wavelength for the individual conversation. The results can be endearing, terrifying and just astonishing...
...Lanzmann interviews a group of Polish villagers, through an interpreter...