‘Witnesses’ to screen Jan. 20 at Chabad in Poway

Witnesses by Konstantin Fam, 2018, Russian and English subtitles, some English.

By Donald H. Harrison

Donald H. Harrison

SAN DIEGO – Witnesses, a film by Russian filmmaker Konstantin Fam, is a Holocaust trilogy.  Three short subjects, “Shoes,” “Brutus,” and “Violin,” are shown consecutively, each a complete story in itself, but all three are tied together in the last segment.

The movie is to be shown at the Chabad House at 16934 Chabad Way in Poway at 6 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 20.  Regular admission cost is $13, with the cost for seniors $10.  In my opinion, you will feel that your money was well spent no deeper into the movie than the first segment.

“Shoes” is told by the combination of music and brilliant cinematography, while never showing the principal actor’s and actress’s faces.  We can tell just by how they walk, dance, run, shuffle, what is happening in the film.  But all we see of them are their legs, shoes, and feet.  It begins as a love story of a couple who eventually marry and have a baby girl.  But soon other shoes enter the picture – the boots of the Nazis.  Then we see from ground level the all too familiar story of Jews being loaded onto trains, offloaded at a concentration camp, forced to strip, and sent to the gas chambers.

“Brutus” is the story of a German shepherd who is raised lovingly by a Jewish woman until she is forced to give him up, and eventually is sent to a concentration camp.  A Nazi SS officer spots the dog, and raises him at first with kindness.  Then, he trains the dog to hate prisoners dressed in concentration camp uniforms; he does this by having his own guards masquerade as prisoners and then tease and torment Brutus, so that the dog associates the concentration camp uniform with bullies he must defend himself against.  The once gentle dog is taught to attack prisoners and to tear them to pieces.  One day, for sport, the Nazis release a group of prisoners so their dogs can hunt them down.  Only when Brutus comes upon his prey, he cannot follow the command to kill, at least not at first.

The third segment, “Violin,” is the most complex story.  It involves a Nazi youth who worked for Jewish violin makers.  A craftsman, he could make violins but could not play them.  He resented the way he was treated as a subordinate by the Jewish owners, but nevertheless grudgingly respected them. When the war came, he became part of the SS, and suggested to his concentration camp commandant that they should assemble the best Jewish musicians to have them play, not only for the Nazis’ enjoyment, but also while prisoners were being pushed into the gas chambers.  In this way, the young SS man hoped to save the lives of two musicians he had known before the war.  But his plan was foiled.  We learn what happened, in flashback, after the son of a survivor finds a note in his violin case that prompts him to travel to New York City where another survivor had opened a music shop.

It’s somewhat surrealistic to hear actors playing Nazi Germans speaking in Russian, but perhaps no more so than Russians might be surprised to hear the Nazis in American films speaking in English.

As one who has reviewed numerous Holocaust films and books, I believe you will be impressed by the filmmaker’s originality.

Fam is born of a Jewish mother and a Vietnamese father.  His parents met after his father was sent to study in Russia by the North Vietnamese regime.

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Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World.  He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com

3 thoughts on “‘Witnesses’ to screen Jan. 20 at Chabad in Poway”

  1. Thank you so much, dear Donald Harrison, for your understanding and your warm heart. Thank you for a wonderful review, for your amazing professional skills. Thank you for being with us, sandiegans, Jewish and not Jewish. Many healthy creative years to you ahead, dear Don! All abundance from the Universe shall come to you and your family!
    Sincerely and with much love and admiration, Dora Klinova

  2. Thank you for the review. I’m certain this trilogy is moving and provocative. I have only seen “Shoes,” but was quite impressed with the film. Do you know if the films will be shown anywhere else on any other dates?
    Thanks again,
    Eva

  3. I was so impressed by this movie at last years film festival that I asked for access to it to watch at home with English subtitles. At that time it was not available except from Russian TV with no English. My family and I watched it together over the holiday and it was extraordinary to share this film that was accessible to all three generations of us due to the kindness of Konstantin and Irina to send us a link to the completed film that with some technical expertise of my son and grandson we were able to share and appreciate together. The cinematography is excellent, the score gorgeous and the unique artistry exceptional. Because it is not a polemic it touches everyone.

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