QB VII
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DVD details
Actor: Anthony Hopkins, Ben Gazzara, Dan O'Herlihy, Leslie Caron, Robert StephensBrand: GAZZARA,BEN
DVD: Region Code 99
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language); French (Dubbed)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dubbed, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 390 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2001-05-29
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
DVD Reviews of QB VII
DVD Review: So-so disc, brilliant source material
Summary: 4 Stars
This being the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, there has been much media attention given the Holocaust of late, from PBS and BBC's tremendous six-hour documentary series, Auschwitz: Inside the Nazi State to Daniel Anker's documentary for AMC, Imaginary Witness: Hollywood and the Holocaust, about the thorny relationship between the Hollywood dream factory and events of the not-so-distant past.
Looking at QB VII today, it's amazing how dated it looks on a purely technical (read: superficial) level - the style of filmmaking (or lack of style, if you prefer), the awkward framing, the grainy film stock, etc.
Content is what's important, though, and while the disc has no choice but to live with the film elements of the day - a proper film restoration would have proven frightfully expensive, I imagine, though I for one would have considered it money well spent - there's no denying that this is compelling, powerful drama.
QB VII was made at a time when the TV mini-series was still in its infancy; if I recall, Rich Man, Poor Man was the watercooler show of the day, and Roots had yet to be aired.
And yet, when I look back - I was 13 at the time QB VII played on TV - this miniseries has stuck in my memory where others have faded. Credit is due to Leon Uris, of course, but what I find compelling - all the more so, today - is the eternal moral dilemma of whether it's possible to redeem a past sin through good works, or whether there are certain sins so awful they can never be redeemed.
Parallels have been drawn between Anthony Hopkins's Dr. Kelno in this film and Dr. Josef Mengele in real life (an irredeemable historical figure, if ever there was one) - but the parallel I believe to be more apt is with Leni Riefenstahl, "Hitler's filmmaker," as she was known at the time, who first sang the praises of the Nazi state in her propaganda films and then devoted her post-war career to photographing the Dinka tribes of Sudan.
QB VII poses a tough moral question, and reaches a similarly tough conclusion. Some sins are beyond redemption, Uris argues, especially if there is no effort to admit guilt or atone publicly for past sins.
Uris wrote novels that are far better known than QB VII, lord knows - Exodus, for one. For me, though, this is the one that has stood the test of time. I fear QB VII is more relevant today than it has ever been. War criminals from the Nazi era continue to be exposed, aging older men who are living lives of relative anonymity. Inevitably the person's neighbours say, once the truth is know, 'Hey, he's an old man, he's harmless, that was a long time ago, let bygones be bygones.'
Never, Uris says, and QB VII shows why. The death camp footage - actual newsreel footage that survived the war - is unforgetable.
I wish this DVD were a perfect visual transfer, with pristine stereo sound (Jerry Goldsmith's musical score is astonishing, and has always been one of my favourites of his) but that was never likely to happen. I'm glad to have this DVD in my library, in any event.
There are many films and TV miniseries about the Holocaust that are more famous and better known, but if I had my way this is the one that would be shown in schools, in history classes. At the very least, it would prompt some important questions and provoke a lively debate.
Description of QB VII
No Description Available.Genre: Feature Film-Drama
Rating: UN
Release Date: 29-MAY-2001
Media Type: DVD
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