Shoah
An immense, archive-free act of testimony that reconstructs the Holocaust through survivors, witnesses, perpetrators, and the landscapes where mass murder occurred.
Overview
A haunting exploration of humanity's darkest chapter, revealing the scars that remain.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Glacial
- Intensity
- Extreme
- Complexity
- Dense
- Violence
- Graphic
- austere
- devastating
- harrowing
- historical study
- classroom screening
What critics said
Critics overwhelmingly regard Shoah as a monumental, singular, and formally powerful act of historical witness whose beauty and cumulative testimony intensify its horrifying subject.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Claude Lanzmann interviews survivors, witnesses, and former Nazis while deliberately excluding archive footage.
The interviews press for precise descriptions of deportations, camps, daily routines, and acts of extermination.
The film’s immense duration and oral-history structure make remembrance and testimony its primary cinematic materials.
The film examines continuing antisemitism in Germany, Poland, and elsewhere alongside testimony about the Holocaust.
Films like Shoah, and why
The Sorrow and the Pity
landmark Holocaust documentary using survivor testimony and historical witness to confront genocide and memory
The Act of Killing
formally rigorous historical documentary built from extended testimony and an investigation of collective memory
The Gleaners and I
patient oral-history documentary centered on personal testimony, trauma, and the persistence of historical memory
Movie Details
- Director
- Claude Lanzmann
- Release Date
- 1985-04-21
- Runtime
- 566 min
- Rating
- 8.2 / 10 (228)
Cast
- Claude Lanzmann
- Simon Srebnik
- Michael Podchlebnik
- Motke Zaidl
- Jan Karski
- Paula Biren
- Abraham Bomba
- Inge Deutschkron
- Ruth Elias
- Richard Glazar
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- Philo
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Shoah about?
- An immense, archive-free act of testimony that reconstructs the Holocaust through survivors, witnesses, perpetrators, and the landscapes where mass murder occurred.
- What is Shoah like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Shoah as glacial, its intensity as extreme and its storytelling as dense.
- Is Shoah violent?
- Yes. Ember rates the violence in Shoah as graphic.
- What did critics think of Shoah?
- Critics overwhelmingly regard Shoah as a monumental, singular, and formally powerful act of historical witness whose beauty and cumulative testimony intensify its horrifying subject.
- Which films are like Shoah?
- Films with a similar feel include The Sorrow and the Pity, The Act of Killing, and The Gleaners and I.
- How long is Shoah?
- Shoah runs 566 minutes.
- Where can I watch Shoah?
- In United States, Shoah streams on Philo.
