La sombra del pasado

An Auschwitz-Birkenau survivor returns to the camp sixty-years later. The story follows her visit, her reactions, her mood swings.

Documentary or fiction? Marceline Loridan-Ivens--herself a death camp survivor--directs a harrowing autobiographical story in which the fictional blends with the environment, and memories of the past are still very vivid, not through flashbacks, but through the viewer's own imagination. Filmed at Auschwitz-Birkenau, the film is a touching performance by Anouk Aimée. Her reactions (she had not prepared the part but let herself react to the situations) are disturbing, but in a positive way. As Myriam confronts the ghosts of her past, she is caught between her will to remember, and her will to forget, navigating to and fro fron reason to near-insanity. The variations of her mood are contrasted to the stability of Oskar (remarkably well played by August Diehl), a young German photographer, grandson of an SS.

Disturbing, harrowing, and painful at times, "La Petite Prairie aux Bouleaux" (The Birch Tree Meadow, or Birkenau in German) is a touching film. Through its simplicity, it manages to deal with a delicate subject with concern and honesty.

Please note Jeanne Moreau's contribution in the writing team, and also Zbigniew Zamachowski's appearance as Gutek.