Night and Fog Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.0

Night and Fog Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov August 21, 2016

Winner of Prix Jean Vigo, Alain Resnais' "Night and Fog" a.k.a. "Nuit et brouillard" (1956) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the disc include an excerpt from an archival audio interview with director Alain Resnais; exclusive new video interview with director Joshua Oppenheimer; and the documentary film "Face aux Fantomes" (2009), featuring discussions and interviews with historian Sylvie Lindeperg. In French, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

Death train

Alain Resnais’ monumental documentary is only about a half hour long. It is essentially a collection of black-and-white trims of archival footage and stills that were discovered after the end of WWII. There are also bits of original footage in color that are used for sporadic before-and-after comparisons. Everything is carefully edited to give one a sense of what took place in various concentration camps across Europe.

The film is narrated by Jean Cayrol, a survivor from the camps, whose calm words seem almost out of sync with the visuals. There are simple but chilling descriptions of horrific events and details about men that organized and controlled them. Heinrich Himmler, the most powerful amongst them, is seen multiple times visiting the camps and getting reports from other men in uniforms. It is easy to see that he had an ambitious plan and that they were all working closely to deliver results.

The footage that shows people being rounded up and loaded on the trains that will take them to the gas chambers is incredibly disturbing. Some of them are seen rushing to get on the trains; some are seen helping others that are too old and too weak to move as fast as they can. Soldiers are also seen giving directions, waving, making sure that time isn’t wasted. Then the trains slowly begin moving.

Cayrol explains where people were shipped and how they were distributed in the camps. There was a very specific and very efficient system in place. But more and more people started arriving and it became impossible to ‘process’ all of them on time. Cayrol explains that it was then that the people that ran the camps started building the crematoriums. There is footage that shows how the gas chambers were made to look like ordinary shower rooms. Right next to them were the giant ovens where the piles of bodies were supposed to be burned.

The footage and stills from the last ten or so minutes look almost surreal. It is hard to imagine that there were people working in the camps that knew what was happening but kept following Himmler’s orders. Did they forget that they were also human beings? Did they lose their minds?

There are a few questions that Cayrol asks throughout the film, but they are not the type of questions that seek to engage or get a specific reaction. One is actually left alone to process the horrific visuals and then make some sense of them. But is this possible? Can one even begin to imagine what was going through the minds of the people that were sent to the gas chambers?

At the end of the film there are bits of footage showing a few of the men that worked in the camps. They claim that they were not responsible for the madness because they followed orders. Apparently, there was always someone above them that told them what to do. And they did -- they kept following orders that turned innocent people into ashes.

Night and Fog Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.37:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Alain Resnais' Night and Fog arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.

The following text appears inside the leaflet provided with this Blu-ray release:

"The restoration of the film was undertaken by Argos Films with the support of the CNC. This new digital transfer was created in 4K resolution on an ARRISCAN film scanner from the 35mm original camera negative. The original monaural soundtrack was restored in 2015 at L.E. Diapason from the 35mm optical soundtrack positive.

Transfer supervisors: Florence Dauman, Isabelle Raindre/Argos Films.
Colorist: Bruno Patin/Eclair/Groupe Ymagis"

The high-quality scanning has ensured that detail and depth are as good as they can possibly be. For obvious reasons the original footage clearly looks superior, though I have to speculate that some careful work was done to remove age-related imperfections and rebalance it as best as possible. Some of the archival footage has native limitations, but throughout the film fluidity is outstanding. So while you may see some sporadic drops in clarity and density as well as traces of fading that are inherited from the archival footage, you will quickly notice that overall image balance is in fact absolutely terrific. There are no traces of compromising digital work. During the original footage colors are stable and healthy. Nuances are also balanced very well, though you should keep in mind that tonalities change as the camera visits different locations. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Night and Fog Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: French LPCM 1.0. Optional English subtitles are provided for the main feature.

It is not surprising that because of the nature of the project dynamic intensity is modest. What is important is that from start to finish the narration is stable and exceptionally crisp. Also, it is easy to tell that very careful work was done to remove any traces of age-related deterioration/distortion. Fantastic work by the crew at L.E. Diapason.

Night and Fog Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Alain Resnais - in this archival audio excerpt, director Alain Resnais quickly explains how he was approached and asked to shoot Night and Fog by the Committee for the History of World War II and why he insisted that Jean Cayrol narrates the film, and discusses the type of research and editing work that was done in 1955, some of which turned out to be quite controversial. The excerpt is from an interview that was conducted for the French radio program Les etoiles du cinema in 1994. In French, with optional English subtitles. (6 min, 1080p).

• Joshua Oppenheimer - in this brand new video interview, Oscar-nominated dierctor Joshua Oppenheimer (The Look of Silence, The Act of Killing) discusses the structure and power of the visuals in Night and Fog. The interview was conducted exclusively for Criterion in Copenhagen in April 2016. In English, not subtitled. (16 min, 1080p).

• Face aux Fantomes - in this documentary film, historian Sylvie Lindeperg takes a closer look at Alain Resnais' editing choices in Night and Fog, the evolution of the script for the film and the nature of the archival material that was used, Jean Cayrol's unusual narration (with some great comments about his decision to rewrite Chris Marker's version of the narration and intentionally omit the "final solution"), and the wide range of reactions to the film's 1955 release. The documentary was produced in 2009. In French, with optional English subtitles (99 min, 1080i).

• Leaflet - an illustrated leaflet featuring Colin MacCabe's essay "The Never-ending Cries". (The author is a Distinguished Professor of English and Film at the University of Pittsburgh. His most recent film production is The Seasons in Quincy: Four Portraits of John Berger).

Night and Fog Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Alain Resnais' Night and Fog remains one of the most powerful documentary films about the horrors of WWII. It has been exclusively restored in 4K by French label Argos Films and looks immaculate in high-definition. Criterion's new Blu-ray release also contains the excellent documentary Face aux Fantomes, which offers plenty of valuable information about the production history and reception of Night and Fog. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.