An 80 minute 16mm film documentary by Barbara Hammer
THE TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL
a review by Jordan Hiller,
published in Bang it out.com
Director Barbara Hammer may be the Stanley Kubrick of documentary filmmakers. She has ruined me for all others. As she narrates her own stylish, hypnotic "essay" about Jews saved from destruction during WWII by fleeing to the South of France, I felt as though I were being soothed by the complacency inducing, yet infinitely wise voice of HAL.
She uncovers, in an ugly time, a fascinating world by the sea where the beauty of the scenery may have rubbed off on the inhabitants. We are introduced to Marie-Ange (who has received a Medal of Honor from Israel) in the fishing villages of Cassis. She unrequitedly, brazenly, and without fear changed thousands of ID cards for Jews who crossed her path. It appears everyone knew what she was doing and everyone, either out of respect or perhaps a miraculous intervention, kept their mouths shut.
Hammer's novel approach to telling this self-contained story emanates from her dissatisfaction with just telling only one story. She wants to create a masterpiece with contrasting colors and a deeper illumination.
She in turn weaves the artwork and writings of the renowned painters Matisse, who was situated in Nice during the war, and Bonnard, who kept a correspondence with his friend throughout.
While Matisse is consumed by his work - his family, including his wife and daughter, are crucial figures in the local resistance movement. As he contemplates the shadows and light on a pear, his daughter is being tortured by SS officers in a bathtub. The painters come off as obliviously self-involved, but the question Hammer presents is: can we blame them? As Matisse's granddaughter says, "[painting] was all he could do. His work brought joy to the world."
The film is extremely well researched and the interviews with Jews who survived due to the bravery of their neighbors (including German-Jewish philosopher Walter Benjamin) are eye-opening. The film takes a humble stand in saying that perhaps the world wasn't as evil as we imagine it must have been. That just beyond the evil, all-powerful, vengeful, outer shell of Nazism, there was a lost paradise resisting.