Reflection paper on a documentary Night And Fog(1955) directed by Essay

Reflection paper on a documentary Night And Fog(1955) directed by Alain Resnais - Essay Example The film combines both images and narrated stories to unveil a great deal of evidence of atrocities that were committed in Europe in the 1940s as part of discrimination against particular groups of individuals. Genocide is therefore a central theme in the film and the infamous holocaust and anti-Semitism, as well as other inhumane treatments in the detention camps, have been used as examples to illustrate the effects of this crime. Genocide can be defined as the systematic and deliberate destruction of a group of individuals on the basis of their ethnic origin, religion, tribe, race, caste or nationality. The UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of t5he Crime of Genocide (CPPCG) in 1948 described genocide a deliberate crime that involves killing, causing mental and physical harm as well as inflicting on the conditions of life of a group or part of it based on nationality, ethnicity or race. Genocide is a crime punishable in international law. In this essay, I will reflect o n the concept of genocide and the film, Night and Fog, as well as other issues expressed in the film. The film details a very contemplative, moving and emotional account of the situation in the Nazi concentration camps. I concur with film critic Francois Truffaut that the short documentary film is one of the greatest movies ever made. After watching, Night and Fog, I firmly support the need for international regulation of genocide. The international community needs to come together and establish stringent laws and regulations that can prevent events such as the holocaust from reoccurring. Individuals and governments or any other groups supporting, financing or orchestrating the mass killing of individuals as a way of discriminating against their group for one reason or the other ought to be brought to book and forced to face justice. The emotions expressed in the short film Night and Fog, are too much for one to bear, let alone to witness such events unfolding in real life. I hail t he director of the documentary, Alain Resnais, for detailing such events in a classical film that even future generations will look at and regret actions committed by other human beings. I felt the general mood of the film was bleak, disturbing and thought provoking. I also think the approach taken by the documentary in explaining the series of events is very realistic, solemn and serious. This helps the film to delve in to details of the incident, enough to give viewers a reality check on how bad human nature can get if not controlled. In my opinion, the documentary is a masterpiece and classical. The film is very much relevant today as it was when it first came out. I would recommend the documentary to any individual fascinated by history and past events as well as international crimes and anyone who is interested in finding out the truth about the Nazi Rule in Germany. The film documents history lesson of utmost significance using a masterful and stylistic approach to deal with t he horrible subject of genocide and the holocaust. However, before one sits down to watch the film, I would advise them to be fully prepared to go through the difficult, albeit an invaluable experience. The film, despite being only 31 minutes long, tells a long story of past injustices and crimes that had been committed in Europe in the mid 1940s. The documentary is set in Poland and follows back on victims of the infamous

Religion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Religion - Essay Example Many Indians also died while being forced to relocate, a sanitized way to refer to the ethnic cleansing of tribes which were formerly located in the area east of the Mississippi River. The Indian Removal Act of 1830 mandated the relocation of many tribes, predominantly the Cherokee Nation which allowed for a ‘whites only’ America in what constituted the majority of what was the U.S. at that time. The Indian Removal Act was a priority of the President Andrew Jackson administration but was passed only following a contentious four month congressional debate. The Act gave Jackson the authority to negotiate treaties with eastern Indians who wished to retain their sovereignty and relocate west of the Mississippi. However, the Act also allowed those Indians wanting to stay in their home land in the east full U.S. citizenship rights. At that time, most Americans could not conceive the country ever extending west of the Mississippi. According to the Act, relocation was meant to be on a voluntary basis, no individual or tribe was to be forced from their home. The Indian Nations in the southeast did not want to be citizens or leave consequently Jackson used military force against these tribes. Much of the general public assumed that removing Indians was beneficial to them. â€Å"Removal would save Indian people from the depredations of whites and would resettle them in an area where t hey could govern themselves in peace† (â€Å"Indian Removal†, 2007). However, some believed the removal policy was just another excuse for Jackson to exercise his long-standing sadistic and inhumane treatment of the native people and vocally objected against this policy. Among those opposed to the Removal Act were Daniel Webster of dictionary fame, many ministers and Davy Crockett whose passionate opposition to this government policy and his support of the Cherokee Nation cost him his Congressional seat. According to Crockett in response to his