Obyknovennyy fashizm

Triumph Over Violence is a triumph of documentary filmmaking. I got burnt out on documentaries a while back and don't watch as many as I used to, but this one was so effective. It moved well and never felt boring, and the scathing narration (I don't know if I can quite call it cheeky or humorous, but there was definitely shade thrown at the Nazis, as deserved).

This is something special, though. The amount of footage they seem to have, the excellent narration, and the way it uses those images, the narration, and the editing to create jarring moment after jarring moment, and tonally doing so in a way that still respects the viewer and respects those who are died and are now on film.

So many tightropes walked all at once by this. It's a miracle it all works and feels so effective. That being said, it's hard to recommend because of how grisly the imagery can be... dismembered body parts, emaciated dead bodies, heads in the process of being separated from bodies, aftermaths of the camps, shot bodies, hung, frozen, bloated bodies - it's a horrifying watch. Tread lightly, but it uses that imagery for a purpose. I would be the first person to complain if it felt like shock for shock's sake.

This was a near-perfect documentary. Loved the presentation. There are parts (not necessarily the violent parts) that will stick with me (the bit with the close-ups on the eyes was chilling). It's all such an overall powerful, angry, scathing, and necessary condemnation of Nazi Germany and the concept of war in general. Catharsis, presenting an argument, and informing - what more could a documentary aim to do?