(Jewish Group) The man who's seen more than 400 Holocaust movies -- almost every one ever made ...

[Behind the Aegis]

The man who’s seen more than 400 Holocaust movies — almost every one ever made — has some takeaways

At least 440 narrative films have been made about the Holocaust — and Rich Brownstein has seen just about every single one of them.

As a lecturer on Holocaust film for Yad Vashem’s international school, Brownstein has both a personal and professional interest in viewing and cataloguing so many depictions of Jewish suffering.

“Dealing with Holocaust education is akin to dealing with oncology, in that you have to set aside your personal feelings,” he says. “You can’t be drawn in.”

Now, Brownstein has published “Holocaust Cinema Complete”, a comprehensive book-length guide to the ever-expanding cinema of the Shoah. The book, which went on sale in September, contains statistics on the content of the films, essays on their methods, descriptions and capsule reviews and information for educators looking to use Holocaust films in their curriculums. Documentaries are not included, but made-for-TV movies and miniseries under three hours in length are.

Brownstein says he has seen “every film that is available to be seen” (excluding unreleased outliers such as Jerry Lewis’ “The Day The Clown Cried”). In the book, he gives his unvarnished opinions on the giants of the genre, including “Schindler’s List,” “Life is Beautiful” and “Jojo Rabbit” — and fans of those movies may not like what he has to say.

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Interesting. I don't agree on some, but I can see his point of view. He breaks them into four categories: 1. “victim film”: took place during the Holocaust and it was principally about a Jew; 2. “righteous Gentile film": took place principally during the Holocaust and it’s about a Gentile saving Jews; 3. “survivor film": after the Holocaust and it’s primarily about a survivor; and 4. "perpetrator film": after the Holocaust and mostly about a perpetrator, a Nazi.

The article doesn't mention other groups, and he does have a "catch all" grouping for some he felt didn't fit the four main genres.