ABSTRACT
Holocaust films furnish vital portrayals of unimaginable and unspeakable horrors. They convey to the viewer tragic degrees of sadism and suffering. As commemorative works of art, they confront and bring us closer to absorbing the reality of the Holocaust. Viewing these films and the dream experience is compared. In a state of confinement, the moviegoer is more attuned to the primary, preverbal infantile experience of visual and auditory stimuli—facial expressions, gestures, or body movements—than to language. Reading, listening to speakers, visiting museums or memorials, or still photographs can offer us knowledge and an array of meaningful images, but none provide the finely integrated experience of watching a finely textured film that can stir unsettling feelings and help us mourn through its haunting artistry.
