Paragraph 175 (Sub)
|
List Price: Our Price: $14.20 You Save: $0.75 (5%) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Buy Used: from $3.98 (click here) Category: VHS Video See more movie releases |
|---|
Buy this VHS video movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
VHS Movie Reviews of Paragraph 175 (Sub)
Movie Review: A good introduction to the subject
Summary: 4 Stars
This documentary covers an aspect of the Shoah that isn't well-covered in a lot of the massive literature and films on the topic, the persecution of gay men (most of them from German Christian families) under the Nazi regime. I agree it is a refreshing change of pace to listen to the stories of the people who were among one of the other persecuted groups, even though the Jews of Europe were the primary and by far the greatest casualties. Of the hundred thousand or so gay men arrested and sent to concentration-camps, fewer than ten were known to have been alive at the time this documentary was made, and three of the survivors declined to be interviewed, for reasons that are explained during the audio commentary. Lesbianism wasn't considered a crime under Paragraph 175 and was viewed as a temporary treatable condition, but a handful of lesbians were also arrested or persecuted. This documentary also brings us the story of one lesbian Jewish woman, who was lucky enough to be able to leave Germany for England pretty early on, before things got much worse. And unlike the other survivors of the Shoah, these people were told to keep quiet for decades, not encouraged to tell their stories, not even after 30 or 40 years had passed. They have also never been recognised by the German government as having been Nazi victims, and indeed some, after all they had already been through, were once again arrested under Paragraph 175 in the Fifties and Sixties.
This provides a good general historical overview, as well as telling, poignant, and sensitive remembrances from the people who actually lived through the liberated days of the Weimar Republic and the Nazi repression and horror that followed, although given the age of most of the participants, it's understandable that these interviews aren't incredibly long, and that a lot of things remain unsaid. It seems really unfair to fault the documentary for this reason, since these people were incredibly brave to have survived and then consented decades later to reopen the pain and finally share their stories, but it just feels like it's lacking some substance. Maybe if the film had been a little longer, it would have felt more structured, tighter, even more informative and powerful. The audio commentary does add a little to the film, mostly talking about how they came to take on this project and their experiences filming it, such as how one of the oldest survivors, Heinz (whom they reported had died since the film was shot), had originally wanted to be shown in silhouette but decided against it for vanity reasons when shown the sample image of how he would look, as well as figuring he didn't have that much longer to live and that it wouldn't be such a big deal after all for people to see his face. (And as the commentators pointed out, it would have been a shame if he had gone through with the silhouette idea, since he had such beautiful eyes.) There are also two additional interviews with survivors, as well as some information about New York Films, the company that made this film, along with some movie trailers for some of their other films. And a word of warning--you have to turn the subtitles on yourself; they don't come on automatically as they do in some other films with a lot of foreign dialogue. For some reason, the letter "I" was always capitalised in the subtitles, as in, for example, "Today, It's hard to Imagine..." and "We dId the other thIng too, of course."
Movie Review: "I didn't even know why I was being sent to the camps!"
Summary: 4 Stars
Paragraph 175 is a powerful documentary that deals with a provocative subject. I just wish filmmakers Jeffrey Friedman and Rob Epstein had fleshed out the subject a bit more. While this film about gay men who were persecuted and imprisoned under the Nazi regime, is in many respects absorbing, the film ultimately suffers from an overly narrow and constricted focus.
Perhaps the problem was that there were just not enough men alive today who were willing to talk about their experiences. From the outset, the pool of interviewees was certainly going to be limited, but also limited is the actual archival footage of life in the concentration camps.
Instead the directors have chosen to pepper the film with well-preserved family photographs, and lively footage of gay and lesbian culture blossoming during the days of the Weimar Republic after WW1. Sensitively narrated by British actor Rupert Everett, Paragraph 175 is all about the German penal code, which was originally enacted in 1871, and later used by the Nazis, to outlaw homosexuality.
The penal code stated: "An unnatural sex act committed between persons of male sex is punishable by imprisonment; the loss of civil rights may also be imposed," But Paragraph 175 was never really enforced until the Nazi's came to power. This documentary centers on six emotional accounts of the most elderly and frail survivors of the concentration camps who, up until now, have repressed their stories.
There's a Jewish gay resistance fighter who posed as a Hitler Youth member to rescue his lover from a Gestapo transfer camp in an ultimately futile effort; a photographer who was arrested and imprisoned for homosexuality, who upon his release joined the army because of the lack of men in his hometown and he "wanted to be with men."
There's a young man who was freed from a sentence at Dachau only to be interned again at Buchenwald, and a Frenchman imprisoned from Alsace, who breaks down after telling of being raped and subject to inhuman torture. Their stories are indeed heart wrenching, because unlike the Jews, they have forced to live quietly, unable to share their horrific experiences for so long.
It is interesting to note that the penal code didn't cover lesbians. The Nazis considered lesbians to be "curable." Women were regarded, as vessels of motherhood - increasing the German population was top priority - therefore, they were exempt from mass arrest. Most lesbians went into exile or quietly married gay men. One woman, who tells her story in the film, was given exit papers and was lucky enough to escape to England.
The statistics are staggering: Between 1933 and 1945, some 100,000 men were arrested for homosexuality, roughly half of them were sentenced to prison, and from 10,000 to 15,000 were sent to concentration camps. The camps were used for re-education, slave labor, castration and sadistic medical experiments. It's believed only about 4,000 survived their ordeal.
The situation didn't improve after the war. Paragraph 175 remained in force until the late sixties, so many gay men were re-imprisoned and subject to repeated persecution. In this respect, Epstein and Friedman should be largely commended for bringing this subject to the attention of the world, and telling these powerful personal stories before the last survivors die. Mike Leonard September 05.
Movie Review: Nazi's Socialized Stigma - An Important & Poignant Event...
Summary: 5 Stars
Homosexuality still raises heated debates, as the homosexual community is struggling for equal rights. Despite contemporary and historical lessons this issue continues to lead to hate crimes in our modern-day and enlightened society. Some still believe that homosexuality is a disease or disorder that can be treated while the American Psychology Association discards this notion. Yet, the stigma remains, as it often is fueled with heated emotions that often rest within people's values and morals. This stigma seems to have divided people into two camps with different opinions; only time and wisdom will help the people in both camps come together.
The documentary, Paragraph 175, is depicted through several archive film clips, which are complemented with several interviews with the few who are still alive when the film was shot. Through these interviews the audience can see the emotion that the survivors display and hear the horrors that they experienced through their trembling voices. The documentary does not disclose much of what happened, but their faces and voices tell more than a thousand words. Shame, anger, and sadness are intertwined in the emotions that are expressed through the interviewees, as they try to tell their story that not many have thought was important during the last 50 years.
The years after World War I was the beginning allowed for a good life for gay men and women in Germany, especially in Berlin, where the gay community blossomed. It was a time when the gay community could live relatively open despite the law of Paragraph 175, which dated back to 1871. Paragraph 175 stated, "An unnatural sex act committed between persons of the male sex or by humans with animals is punishable by imprisonment; the loss of civil rights may also be imposed." The existence of Paragraph 175 left the gay community in danger to extortion and imprisonment. Thus, arose a movement led by Dr. Magnus Hirschfled that attempted to remove this law and help erase some of the stigma in regards to homosexuality. The movement gained a large number of followers, as it seemed that freedom was about to take another historical step forward.
The rise of the Nazi regime in Germany initially seemed to be safe for gay men and women, as Hitler's leader for the storm troops was Ernst Röhm, who was known to be gay. However, several people tauntingly criticized Röhm and the Nazi government. Some went as far as suggesting that the Nazi leaders were all homosexuals. In retrospect, it has been told that Hitler had made a deal with the German military leaders, which entailed that Hitler had to get rid of Röhm, who was considered an embarrassment, if he wanted the German chancellor position. It led to the Night of the Long Knives when Röhm was executed without a trial, as Hitler informed the people that Röhm and some others were planning a coup. It also caused Hitler to enforce Paragraph 175, which was also rewritten a year after Röhm's death.
Darkness and shadow spread quickly around Germany, as the majority of Germany supported Hitler as the new German chancellor. Maybe, this notion could serve as an opportunity to show that a misguided public majority can be very dangerous. In fact, a month after Hitler was in power he order gay meeting places to be closed, which shortly after was followed by the torching of the Reichstag, the German legislative building. Chaos ruled in Germany, as Hitler methodically used the chaos to gain emergency powers from the government. Sanctioned to use force, Hitler began to increase the persecution of Jews and made the Nazi party the only legal party within a six-month span.
Amidst the hatred and the persecution of Jews, homosexuals thought that they were protected by their German heritage. However, many found that their German ethnicity did not protect them, as many were sent off to prison and labor camps while many were also sent to concentration camps. They were forced to wear pink triangles, which marked them as homosexuals. Lesbians were luckier as a decision was made in the Nazi government that women were more important, as they could bare children and help provide a strong nation. Nonetheless, a few lesbians were sent to concentration camps, but their number cannot even compare to the number of gay men that were imprisoned. The reason was that male homosexuality was treated as a contagious disease and female homosexuality was treated more like a short-termed condition.
After the war the Allies did not recognize the gay survivors as they were simply swept aside. The German's continued to enforce the Nazi version of Paragraph 175 until 1967. The shadow of the emotional damage and stigma that the Nazi regime created still affects people today. This stigma might have affected the low number of survivors that have stepped forward for recognition of their suffering. Only ten known survivors existed when this documentary was shot. The year after the documentary was released the German and Swiss Bank compensation program for survivors began to include gay victims, which was in 2001.
Movie Review: i wanted more...
Summary: 3 Stars
The truth about homosexual persecution in Nazi Germany told by 6 survivors, using real footage from the times and documentary/interview style storytelling. I find it interesting how they only targeted gay men. Nazis declared lesbianism a "temporary and curable problem."
Anyway, an interesting little documentary... not enough substance to it though in my opinion- although that might be because none of the men wanted to talk about their experiences. I imagine they get tired of all the interviews and having to relive those things...
"Do you want butter or guns?"
And the people cried "Guns!"
And at that my Father became afraid."
Movie Review: Painful, defiant, angry, joyous
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a magnificent piece of documentary filmmaking, not only from the perspective of the production values, but especially of the reportage. It is made clear throughout the documentary how extraordinarily difficult it was to get the extremely elderly men who were the survivors of the Holocaust to think back to what must have been a horrifying period in their lives. The producers managed to get through, however, sometimes with the help of friends, sometimes on their own, and the effect is a devastating one. I cannot agree with the reviewer from Louisiana who carped about "too many Nazi movies". First of all, the Holocaust is a horror which must never be forgotten, and there is no point at which there will be too much information about a "civilized" Western European country which slaughtered millions upon millions upon millions of people at a time which is still in the living memory of countless Europeans, Americans and other citizens of the world. Second, I would have a hard time in coming up with any short list, let alone long list of written, audio or video material which treats the specific subject of the extermination of gay people in Hitler's camps. Gay men were one of the secondary groups of slaughter, of course, in comparison to the breathtaking horror that was visited upon the Jews, but they were a major group nevertheless, and if the critic in Louisiana thinks that this is a story that does not need telling, then I'm sorry, but he's wrong. It does need telling, and the point to this documentary is that not many more years will pass before all of those who survived the terror are gone, gone, gone. The fact that the Holocaust is a throbbing and living thing even in the lives of people in the late 20th and early 21st century was neatly encapsulated in "Paragraph 175" when, if I understood it correctly, a French interviewee said that the interview was the first time that he had ever spoken to a German since World War II. "Paragraph 175" brought tears to my eyes again and again, because I had to ask, again and again, "why, why in God's name, why?" Whether Nazi atrocities have been treated in the media to a greater, lesser, more significant or any other extent than the atrocities of Stalin's Gulag (and as a Latvian, I am perfectly aware of what Stalin did, thank you) is entirely not the point. No human terror can be measured up against any other. This was terror. This was pain. But the survivors also represent a point of joy. They did survive. They had something to say. "Paragraph 175" allowed them to say it. I think that we are better for the story having been told.