martyrs is a 2008 french-canadian drama horror film written and directed by pascal laugier .

it was first screened during the 2008 cannes film festival at the marché du film , and the film 's french release was on 3 september 2008 .

the american rights for the film were purchased by the weinstein company and the company was responsible for the release of the dvd in april 2009 .

the film was controversial upon its release , receiving polarizing reviews from critics and has been associated with the new french extremity movement .

martyrs ( 2008 film )

martyrs ( 2008 film ) <EOT> poiler warning : this article reveals some plot details of the 2008 film martyrs . we’d recommend watching it before reading .

left , bailey noble in the american remake of the french horror film “martyrs . ” right , mylène jampanoï in the original “martyrs , ” from 2008 .

looking for movie tickets ? enter your location to see which movie theaters are playing martyrs ( 2008 ) near you .

the film’s french release is slated for 2008 through the distribution arm of wild bunch , who are also handling international sales .

published at : dec . 28 , 2008 , 11 : 04 p . m . cst by headgeek

pascal laugier ‘s 2008 french film , martyrs , is one hardcore horror movie . like plenty of other successful foreign horror films , it’s gotten the u . s . remake treatment . an american version of martyrs has been in the works for over five years now , and today we’re getting our first real glimpse at the film . watch the martyrs trailer after the jump .

unless you ' re a fan of the actresses involved , i really can ' t imagine that viewers will take much away from watching the martyrs remake . if you want to be told this story , just stick with the 2008 french film .

martyrs 2016 is an entertaining , fun and at times brutal horror film that will probably delight the casual horror fan .

the controversial film was similar to the graphic , torture - porn film franchises in the us begun with saw ( 2004 ) and hostel ( 2005 ) , although more compelling with greater intellectual significance . when the divisive film debuted at the cannes film festival in 2008 , it caused many audience members to walk out . the final 15 minutes of the unpleasant film was considered unflinchingly horrendous in its portrayal of cruelty .

i know this comment is a year later than the rest but i’ve only recently watched this film . . no film has had the effect on me like martyrs did , i have watched a siberian film and films like 120 days of sodum and found then nothing compared to martyrs . . the way the film was shot , actually i’m not even goin to try and sound intelligent , the film stick with me… great review 🙂

remaking martyrs with a " glimmer of hope , " however , is a gargantuan mistake , and ruins the main point of the film .

photo : pascal laugier ' s ' martyrs . " credit : canal + .

i wonder if stamm has seen martyrs . . . green obviously missed suspiria .

and it is through this invitation that we , too , may be martyrs .

for the first 50 minutes , martyrs 2015 is following the exact same track as martyrs 2008 . when it finally starts to diverge and take its own path , it ' s to the film ' s detriment . as it goes on , it becomes more and more apparent that the story has undergone a very stereotypical americanization process , a whitewashing to make it more palatable to a wider audience .

ethics is an area i am very interested in within film studies . you have encouraged me to re - watch this film with the above questions in thought . martyrs has always intrigued me . wonderful article .

the ' martyrs ' remake already has already been filmed . . . - bloody disgusting

horror , movie trailers , kevin goetz , mark l . smith , martyrs , michael goetz

perhaps more than any other horror film , martyrs demonstrates the range of the genre ' s capabilities to find ways to excite , provoke , and disturb us .

martyrs trailer & film clip - 2016 horror remake subscribe for more : urltoken a woman and her childhood friend seek out revenge on those who victimized and abused them .

i ' ve never been into this sort of torture porn and martyrs doesn ' t convince me .

martyrs is an absolute recommend , but only to those who are willing to accept the film on its own uncompromising terms . all others are advised to stay well clear away .

i’m very interesting in the discussion above regarding ‘witnessing’ – how does martyrs encourage us to question our participatory role in the film experience ? are we trespassing on the witnessing of martyrdom ? is this a scene that belongs to our eyes ? it seems to raise questions about how easily we comply with the ‘film eye’ or ‘film body’ .

williams , “film bodies : gender , genre , excess” in film quarterly , 44 : 4 , summer 1991 , 2 - 13 ) , 4 . ↩

sooo close ! ! - dang guess i ' m really gonna have to check out martyrs . . .

there is some talent behind this remake . it’s written by the revenant co - writer mark l . smith and directed by the goetz brothers ( scenic route ) . that should make the martyrs remake look slightly more appealing , but anchor bay seems to be dumping the film and the trailer leaves you wanting to revisit the original 2008 film instead . in a q & a on reddit , the goetz brothers acknowledged they wouldn’t managed to equal the violence of the original but still planned on pushing boundaries :

writer - director pascal laugier ' s 2008 french horror film " martyrs " has a well - earned reputation as one of the scariest , goriest movies ever made — so extreme that it pushes past exploitation into art . the new american remake from screenwriter mark l . smith ( " the revenant " ) and directors kevin and michael goetz sells a softer version of laugier ' s vision . the result is pointlessly repellent .

final preparations are underway before shooting begins in canada in march on martyrs , the second feature by pascal laugier .

great analysis . though the title could have had “martyrs” in quotes so it was clearer what it was about .

nobody has mentioned that the title of the film is “martyrs , ” as in plural . all of the other people that had been tortured would have been classed as victims . both the anna and the old lady are martyrs , albeit of a different type . i think that informs the “keep on doubting” response .

( 1962 ) , a film about survivor’s guilt and the revenge of repressed guilt .

movie news , screening invitations and reviews from the world of independent film and beyond .

“ martyrs ” is only eighty minutes long , sans credits , yet still it manages to cram four bad horror films into its meager runtime . a remake of 2008’s french torture porn / cult horror flick with the same title , the original “martyrs” was by no means a masterpiece , but managed to be extremely effective during its third act , thanks mainly to writer / director pascal laugier ’s staunch dedication to medieval - level gruesomeness mixed with an intensely grim existential hopelessness .

ms . ponder said she hoped any attention given the new “martyrs” would work in favor of the old , a film she has been unable to shake — to horror fans , a badge of honor .

the weinstein company bought “martyrs” following its premiere in 2008 at cannes , where it incited walkouts . it was never released theatrically in the united states . ( in an interview with the horror website shock till you drop , mr . laugier said the producer bob weinstein “tried to watch ‘martyrs’ in the plane back from cannes and couldn’t stand its violence . ” ) in france , it was originally given the equivalent of an american nc - 17 , later lowered to the equivalent of an r .

but it’s worth remembering that the first reviews of martyrs weren’t that all that complimentary either – for the exact opposite reasons .

and certainly , as an example of the new french extreme , this film is perfect .

your brain is broken . this film and most of life in general is beyond you .

a scene from the movie " martyrs " of bailey noble who plays anna . ( anchor bay entertainment / anchor bay entertainment )

the sadistically torturous 2008 film had been rumored for a remake since it was first released , and has now reportedly entered the post - production phase after being filmed in secret . according to the report , kevin and michael goetz ( scenic route ) have already wrapped the filming process with bailey noble ( true blood ) and troian bellisario ( pretty little liars ) starring in the lead roles . the film is produced by blumhouse productions and the safran company .

shatteringly stupid and repulsively misogynistic , " martyrs " mashes revenge , torture and the supernatural into one solid , quasi - religious lump .

for thoughts on , and a place to discuss , plot details we can’t reveal in this review , visit martyrs ’ spoiler space .

now — despite my enthusiasm for the film , i can definitely say that it is not one to recommend . in terms of impact the film has , this probably sits just below a serbian film . it’s a really , really good movie , but it’s a full - on sucker punch of a film . it kind of leaves you reeling , because a movie has rarely been so cruel .

based on the brutal 2008 french canadian philosophical thriller written and directed by pascal laugier , remaking a movie for american audiences that has a fan base as loyal as martyrs is a bold move . directors ( and brothers ) kevin and michael goetz tackle this difficult challenge by toning back on the violence , altering the lifespan of some of the characters , and focusing mostly on the lifelong friendship between anna and lucie .

troian bellisario and bailey noble in a scene from the film by the directors kevin and michael goetz .

yes i do agree it’s a “hugely” graphic film but after watching “earthling” the gore / torture ( s ) of “martyrs” is nothing because you know it’s not true & just acting . “earthling” has scarred me and will for ever be traumatized .

martyrs opens in select theaters on january 22nd , 2016 and will be available on dvd and blu - ray on february 2nd , 2016 .

there are movies that you can call violent , unsettling , shocking , disturbing , stomach - churning , depressing or demented and then , there is martyrs . proudly presented by the new french extremity movement , notable for films like high tension , inside & irreversible , martyrs sets an incredibly high bar for ensuing films of its genre and is arguably the most extreme & harrowing film ever made .

both the french and u . s . iterations of " martyrs " are transparently voyeuristic cheaply ginned - up guignol peep shows with intellectual pretensions .

since its debut at the cannes film festival last summer , martyrs has had tongues wagging furiously over its graphic content , its persistent and excessive violence , its apparent misogynistic tendencies and its supposedly sadistic preoccupations , and certainly , for these reasons and many others , martyrs isn’t for everyone . however , for those brave enough to enter pascal laugier’s bad , bad world , there’s a balls - achingly brutal horror film waiting to be experienced ; one that’s deeply disturbing , profoundly moving and somehow , eerily beautiful .

mr . couzens , your excellent , ahem , dissection of the film’s plotting and theme gives great insight .

the final shot of the film saw chris troubled , standing apart and very disconnected from his happy family .

brigid cherry , “refusing to refuse to look , ” the horror film reader , 169 - 170 . ↩

brutal from start to finish and ruthless in its depiction of despair , pascal laugier’s 2008 french - language shocker is an endurance test for even the most tenacious try - me horror fan . the critic simon abrams wrote that the film “takes the underlying concept of torture porn — pleasure from excessive displays of pain — and thoroughly explodes it in 99 minutes of grueling , nonstop butchery . ” and that was a rave .

an aging porn star agrees to participate in an " art film " in order to make a clean break from the business , only to discover that he has been drafted into making a pedophilia and necrophilia themed snuff film .

martyrs 2015 is not a particularly good film , but it is a decently made one , although it has an oddly incongruous warm look to much of the cinematography which makes its low budget more apparent and at times makes it look like a basic cable tv movie .

the film begins with a young girl running away from an industrial complex , panicked and bloodied . and by young i mean about 12 years old , if not less . this is 57 seconds into the film , and we already know we’re in an edgier film than most . she runs away , limping and screaming . this is lucie .

brutally well - conceived . . . for about 40 minutes , and then " martyrs " flips on its own bloody axis and falls apart , existentially .

roger ebert , the patron saint of many a film lover , was well known for being fundamentally inclined against a certain stripe of horror film . not against horror of the classical or psychological variety— the bride of frankenstein , psycho , and rosemary’s baby were not objects of his disdain . not even , necessarily , against modern or graphic horror—his great movies series included films such as se7en , alien , and the shining . but many horror films faced an uphill battle with ebert , who called the texas chain saw massacre “an effective production in the service of an unnecessary movie . ” one can only imagine what he might have said about martyrs , pascal laugier’s 2008 deposit at farthest end of the new french…

crew : camera ( color ) , nathalie moliavko - visotzky , stephane martin ; editor , sebastien prangere ; music , seppuku paradigm ; production designer , jean - andre carriere ; costume designer , claire nadon . reviewed at ugc cine cite les halles 3 , paris , sept . 6 , 2008 . ( in fantasy filmfest , germany ; frightfest , london ; toronto film festival - - midnight madness . ) running time : 99 min .

film should score ok with hardcore gore fans , but others will expect martyrdom for sticking it out until the end .

it ' s a hollow film with hopelessly annoying themes that don ' t arouse questions so much as eye rolls .

excellent analysis . i just watched the film for the first time and needed something to ground all that depravity in .

while the film is hardly a lifetime movie , the brothers goetz might not necessarily disagree with ms . hayes that their film will appeal to women . “when you use the word ‘hope’ with the word ‘martyrs , ’” it makes people livid , kevin goetz said . “but this film and this screenplay have a glimmer of hope in the fact that these two women will do whatever it takes to survive . ” michael goetz added , “at all the screenings we’ve had so far , women have reacted very well . ”

martyrs is an intense french film about the physical and psychological hell some people endure , and the revelations that can come from such trauma . it ' s a highly singular , inspired , ultraviolent film and horror fans everywhere love it , so of course hollywood wanted a remake . hot on the heels of the last exorcism in 2010 , director daniel stamm ended up landing the highly coveted gig .

like house of voices , the €2 . 8m martyrs was produced by richard grandpierre for eskwad and will have an eight - to ten - week shoot in canada .

hi , i thoroughly enjoyed your analysis of martyrs and included a link to your review in a list of martyr - related websites on my subreddit called cinematic trauma .

writes about comics , books and movies for the comics journal , the l magazine , the new york press and slant magazine . since last year , he’s been obsessively keeping a film journal where he writes down something about every film he’s seen .

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was this a horror film ? at no point was i scared , i was only ever depressed or disgusted . which isn ' t to say it was intended to scare , i think pascal laugier made martyrs to create these feelings of depression and disgust . so in a way it succeeded .

the tomatometer score — based on the opinions of hundreds of film and television critics — is a trusted measurement of critical recommendation for millions of fans . it represents the percentage of professional critic reviews that are positive for a given film or television show .

thanks to bloody regular fabien m . , we have also learned that martyrs , which is to be produced by blumhouse and the safran company , has already been completed .

considering that “martyrs” was a fairly low budget production that was shot in twenty days , the lush cinematography by sean o’dea is impressive , especially during a gorgeous tracking shot of a candle - lit church . but it’s the wrong look for a movie with such grim and bleak subject matter . the grimy and grainy look of the original was far more fitting . if you’ve never seen the 2008 version , a proud member of the new french extremity movement , i guess the many twists and turns of the new “martyrs” might engross you in a fairly superficial way . but why bother with a muted copy , when you can experience the balls - to - the - wall original ? [ d ]

some viewers saw it when it premiered at cannes in 2008 – one of the most controversial films to hit the festival since gaspar noé’s irreversible – while others caught it later that year at london’s frightfest . others first heard about it through word of mouth – through reports of audiences fainting in the aisles and vomiting after watching its scenes of extreme torture .

[ note : heather had actually suffered a mis - carriage , a fact that roy learned only later in the film . ]

film selections have varied but have included black christmas ( 1974 ) , the hills have eyes ( 1977 ) , the hunger ( 1983 ) , the texas chainsaw massacre ( 1974 ) , the texas chainsaw massacre 2 ( 1986 ) , the stepford wives ( 1975 ) , teeth ( 2007 ) , rabid ( 1977 ) , the brood ( 1978 ) , let the right one in ( 2008 ) , ginger snaps ( 2000 ) , jenifer ( 2005 ) , sick girl ( 2006 ) , fido ( 2006 ) , dawn of the dead ( 1978 ) , day of the dead ( 1985 ) , near dark ( 1987 ) , audition ( 1999 ) , tokyo gore police ( 2008 ) , in my skin ( 2002 ) , braindead / dead - alive ( 1992 ) , martyrs ( 2008 ) and american mary ( 2012 ) . these films feature strong , non - normative or monstrous female characters . they raise feminist issues such as sexism , menstruation , pregnancy , motherhood , abortion , rape , gender trouble , and the gendered , raced or classed mapping of the body . they may contain final girls . they range from comical to disturbing , from slower to fast - paced , from conventional horror to “postmodern” and from less gore to more . equipped with feminist theories , students become deeply absorbed in these films while maintaining an enjoyable engagement .

the problem with extreme cinema is finding the balance between extremity , context and story – on one end you’ve got a film that’s really great but confronts an audience a little too much ( irreversible ) or on the other , a film that’s so concerned with being extreme it forgets to have a story , or in the end confront its audience too much ( the human centipede ) . but somewhere in the middle lies martyrs , a film that , in terms of content is probably more extreme than a serbian film or irreversible – but in execution takes that content , wraps it up in one hell of a mystery and metres out its extremity over the course of one solidly good movie .

( 2004 ) , the main character is called anna jurin . in martyrs , anna is one of the female leads ' character names , whilst lucie jurin is the other .

some authors have speculated that martyrs– like other french horror films of the past 20 years , such as xavier gens’s frontiers – deliberately evokes deep - set trauma from france’s past .

the film took in about $ 1 million globally before moving to dvd in 2009 . it has drawn fans ever since . featured on the covers of the horror magazines fangoria and rue morgue , it’s a film devotees know about even if they haven’t seen it .

unfortunately , in goosing the momentum , the creators of the film have lost the soul of what was essential to this horrific tale .

first of all , great article ! martyrs is one of those films that really stays with you . it is physically affecting , watching the creatures painfully move around and anna withstanding her torture . unlike hostel or a serbian film though the torture is not for anybody else’s pleasure but for anna’s own transcendence into martyrdom .

so it’s no surprise that the film’s partisans are wary of a new “martyrs , ” which opened jan . 22 . one of the film’s backers is blumhouse , the red - hot production company behind the popular but hardly hard - core horror franchises “paranormal activity” and “insidious . ” as with recent remakes of “halloween” and “the evil dead , ” fans of the original are wringing their hands over an american remake that might water down carnage or sanitize content .

it’s hard to ignore the undercurrent of misogyny in the third act , but martyrs is arguably a modern horror classic from the new french extremity movement . if you’re cool with extremely disturbing gore and violence then check it out ! if not , i recommend staying at least 300 feet away from this film at all times .

in all of the reviews i have seen of this film , no - one , not one has understood why mademoiselle removes her wig , head - scarf and make - up at the very end of the film before saying , “keep doubting” and blowing her brains out .

eight years ago , the horror community was electrified – a term that implies both a shock and an excited , skin - prickling awakening – by the release of a resolutely bleak french - language film named martyrs . directed by the hitherto obscure pascal laugier and starring unknown actresses morjana alaoui and mylène jampanoï , the film , a low - budget french - canadian production made for just under three million euros , quickly began to assert its place in horror movie history .

there really was only one possible ending for the film and that’s the one we were given , regardless of how unsatisfying . if madam . had lived to relate anna’s experience , the film maker would have had to speculate on the nature of the afterlife of which he clearly has no better idea than we do . any imagination he might exert would bring the film into the genre of fantasy or pseudo - mystical rather than horror .

he ' solved ' his wife ' s rape / murder - again - by killing " teddy " - the film ' s opening sequence .

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great article ! i’m not sure if i have the stomach to seek out the film , but your words will definitely stick with me for a while after reading your piece , much like it seems the film has stuck with you . something to think about certainly – the glorification of violence .

perhaps this is the point . we , like anna , must earn the revelation the film offers us . the film hasn’t offered us cheap visceral thrills , but a contemplative treatise on how we think of violence . the victim , the sufferer , is no longer disempowered , but may be the most spiritually powerful being possible . as an audience we are invited to suffer rather than enjoy the cheap , visceral thrills of another torture porn film .

martyrs is a film that has never left me , that i was unsure if i was enjoying or not until indeed my mouth was open for the entirety of the second half . it certainly separates itself from other films within the torture porn sub - genre , as it attempts to justify the heavy visual elements of its plot – and i believe does so extraordinarily well . i’d agree with your observations of the film and its place within french extremism , but i think at times the creators weren’t seeking to make as much meaning as we can derive . there are some parts of the film there for shock and gore , left suitably unsubstantiated .

yes , martyrs – which tells the story of a young woman ( lucie , played by jampanoï ) who tracks down the people responsible for torturing her as young child – is notoriously difficult to watch .

the kind of person who ' d be inclined to seek the film out is probably not the kind of person who ' d regret that decision .

linda williams , “when the woman looks” in the horror film reader , ed . mark jancovich ( london : routledge , 2001 ) , 61 . ↩

carol clover men , women and chainsaws : gender in the modern horror film ( princeton , nj : princeton up , 1992 ) , 53 . ↩

: martyrs are exceptional people . they survive pain , they survive total deprivation . they bear all the sins of the earth . they give themselves up . they transcend themselves . . . they are transfigured .

the fact that there is now a remake of martyrs is no surprise , laugier sold the remake rights as soon as his film got international release . the surprise is that , after several years of development hell , blumhouse productions , the safran company , and directors kevin and michael goetz ( scenic route ) managed to shoot the low budget remake in total secrecy . we didn ' t know about it until it was already in the can . this weekend , it will be released into the world to answer the question , " how can you possibly remake martyrs ? "

" the ballad of narayama " is a japanese film of great beauty and elegant artifice , telling a story of startling cruelty . what a space it opens…

i really liked this film , i found it incredibly disturbing and i don ' t think that it was an effective horror film , more of a psychological thriller . i did really enjoy it and i would recommend it to anyone who likes horror films , but it is not for the faint of heart .

very interesting dissection of martyrs ! i’ve seen a smattering of new french extremity , but this film i’ve struggled with for a while . i love the first half , the comfortable familiar narrative , as you described ; i assumed that lucie was unhinged on my first viewing and didn’t want her to be correct in her assumption about the family she killed being her torturers .

" martyrs are exceptional people . they survive pain , they survive total deprivation . they bear all the sins of the earth . they give themselves up . they transcend themselves . . . they are transfigured . "

the story in the remake looks more or less the same : a young lady seeks revenge against those who tortured her as a child . this isn’t a red - band trailer , so either there’s a lot this trailer isn’t showing or they made a pg - 13 version of martyrs . pg - 13 or not , though , there was never a chance the american version of martyrs would be half as violent as the original .

very detailed article on an astonishing horror film . a friend asked if i would recommend it , and i gave him a resounding yes . excellent work here .

the men in black of the film ' s title originally referred to a sci - fi comic book series , first published in 1991 , about a top - secret organization of agents that monitored , regulated and policed paranormal and alien activity on earth . there were two film sequels to the 1997 release , in 2002 and 2012 .

continuing the trend in 21st century french extremism ( following the likes of xavier gens ’ frontiere ( s ) ( 2007 ) and alexandre bustillo and julien maury’s inside ( 2007 ) ) , pascal laugier’s martyrs raises the bar even higher by offering a nauseating , ruthless indictment of and reflection on the violence , hatred and pain that fuels our modern day world . cheery , this film is not .

although american audiences have their fair share of bloody fanatics , martyrs has to date only managed a small cult following due to its highly graphic nature . the film is a risky choice for any studio to tackle . depending on the mpaa rating , we will soon know how extreme the studios are willing to take it . this is one horror flick to watch out for as the news progresses .

the film takes you through a journey , first depicting shocking violence with an understandable but morally questionable motive , moving to the visceral , torturous aftermath of violence with no motive , though committed against a figure that is slightly removed from the audience . it is only in the final third of the film that its raison d’être is revealed .

unfortunately , reeling in that younger target audience means sacrificing much of the exaggerated , disturbing material , resulting in a lack of the vicious grit that made the original so iconic . mostly though , aside from creating a much tamer version , the 2015 martyrs headed by the goetz brothers feels too similar to the first film , bordering on a shot - for - shot remake that doesn’t really bring anything new or worthwhile to the table in order to justify its existence . overall , this is a decent film , but it’s not much more than that . hopefully , this depiction will arouse curiosity for the much harsher original , and encourage fans to seek out the french cult classic , which sadly , proves to be a much impactful film .

mademoiselle : martyrs are exceptional people . they survive pain , they survive total deprivation . they bear all the sins of the earth . they give themselves up . they transcend themselves . . . they are transfigured . see more »

this is almost as bad as david gordon green declaring that he would remake suspiria into " some classy shiat " rather than a " low budget italian gore film " .

, then you’re in for a trip when the u . s . remake hits theaters . the original french language film is the most notorious entry in a radical shift of

featuring morjane alaoui ( marock ) and mylene jampanoi ( valley of flowers ) , martyrs promises to be an indulgent journey into the heart of darkness of a human soul , set against the backdrop of child kidnapping , torture and revenge .

martyrs is a groundbreaking work - it challenges the audience to endure heinous acts yet to emerge spiritually cleansed ; to witness man ' s willingness to abuse , degrade and manipulate , yet leave the theatre more enamoured with humanity than ever .

citing the slasher antagonist of “friday the 13th , ” stacie ponder , the writer of the horror - themed blog final girl and author of a coming monograph on “martyrs , ” said : “in your typical horror movie , when jason punches somebody’s head off , you might laugh or get a thrill . there are no thrills in ‘martyrs . ’ it’s about the pain , not the torture . there’s no space between us and the pain that these characters are enduring . ”

i would beg to differ with the review of this film - it seems that most of the uk press have missed the point of this film . it ' s deeply complex and amazing to watch . everyone i know that has seen it and understood it ( most people - but clearly not the press ) has been deeply moved and amazed .

but the cruelty of the film is a bit like the torturers themselves ; it’s not malicious . it’s not a film trying to shock you and repulse you , like any number of torture - porn films of the current ilk , an obvious case being hostel or a more obvious example in the malignant a serbian film . its cruelty is naturally derived from the intensity of the story ; toning the violence down would make the mystery in the story less effective . it’s full on , but it’s contextual , and never exploitative .

remaking a film that reigns as one of the most disturbing ever would challenge any director . the original “martyrs” begins as a home invasion film , as lucie and anna , young women who met as children at an orphanage , seek revenge on the family that imprisoned and tortured one of them 15 years ago . but as their plan takes a merciless turn , anna plummets into a world dominated by a shadowy organization with bloodthirsty ideas about divine suffering . in one bloodcurdling scene anna is immobilized and her back is flayed ; the camera lingers on her face as she reacts to the pain .

both narratives played separately and alternately until the film ' s climactic conclusion when the two strands merged into a color sequence - at the time of the strangulation of jimmy grantz .

time to take the cenobites serious again . not a fan of remakes but i think hellraiser is a perfect candidate for one and laugier can bring a great vision to it . i also loved st . ange . i cant wait for martyrs .

they also point out that the vast majority of women become victims , not martyrs . they succumb to the torture , and die . and , as the creepy mademoiselle makes clear , anna is going to be subjected to all of this now .

technically , the film is also incredible . it’s beautifully shot , which helps make the violence so unpalatable , because it’s contrasted well against the otherwise glossy film . the modern set of the house is also utilised well . it does feel homey when the family are still alive , pre - lucie , but afterwards , it becomes cold and sterile , and torturous .

the film ended with a tear - jerking , fireworks - filled conclusion , set at bill ' s 65th birthday party celebration . parrish delivered a heart - warming speech to everyone :

williams , “when women look : a sequel” in freud’s worst nightmares , accessed online at urltoken . see also williams , “learning to scream” in the horror film reader , 168 . ↩

i watched the film but i would have to agree with katie . if you need food for thought this film is a bad excuse . plato is sure better . the only challenging intellectual puzzle is at the end and it’s not that good . and you know that all these justifications are only there for the shock value so the director can get a little attention .

martyrs is a movie of three acts , which makes it both difficult to summarise ( without spoiling the experience ) and categorise . the dizzying , nauseating and frenetic pace of the first two - thirds of the film creates a remarkable intensity thanks to the unflinching violence and fierce music score . indeed , the narrative becomes so disorientating , that we’re never quite sure what kind of genre flick we are watching and what direction it will take .

kevin and michael goetz , the brothers who directed the new “martyrs , ” say they understand fans’ apprehension . but their job was “to focus on the script that was given to us , ” kevin goetz said . their hope is that their reimagining , as they call the version written by mark l . smith , a co - writer of “the revenant , ” will shine a light on a film still largely under the public radar .

mademoiselle believed they could discover the secrets of the afterlife through their experiments by finding a true martyr - a subject who would achieve a state of euphoric transcendence : " martyrs are very rare . a martyr is something else . martyrs are extraordinary beings . they survive pain , they survive total deprivation . they bear all the sins of the earth . they give themselves up , they transcend themselves . . . they are transfigured . it turns out that women are more responsive to transfiguration . young women . "

throughout the course of the film we see lucie suffer gruesome hallucinations and self - mutilate due to past trauma , and witness the bloody massacre of a family of four – children included .

in a film filled with savagery and horror , it’s a moment that shocks to the core : a reminder that unexpected tenderness can be as viscerally , skin - shiveringly affecting as torture .

yes , this is a relentless and disturbing film and certainly not for everyone . i never found it gratuitous , however , which often isn ' t the case in films like this .

this much can be said for the new remake of martyrs : it’s efficient . clocking in at under 90 minutes , the film proceeds at a rapid clip , never lingering too long on any one scene , or dragging out a single shot beyond the minimal time needed to achieve its purpose . unfortunately , in goosing the momentum , the creators of the film have lost the soul of what was essential to this horrific tale . indeed , the original movie might be the only film lumped under the banner of “extreme horror” ( or , less charitably , “torture porn” ) to truly and narratively justify the argument that extending brutal scenes of violence and abuse is the whole point . ( the a . v . club previously referred to it as “the torture - porn movie to end all torture - porn movies . ” )

" martyrs is very nihilistic . . . the american approach [ that i ' m looking at ] would go through all that darkness but then give a glimmer of hope . you don ' t have to shoot yourself when it ' s over . "

martyrs & high tension , both french are very refreshing to a long time horror buff like myself . seriously r . zombie fliks r total rip offs . nothing new , i guess , us as horrific talented fans should voice our ideas more . ( =

when horror fans dare horror rookies to watch a movie , it’s usually a classic frightfest like “the exorcist” or a more recent white - knuckler like “it follows . ” when horror fans dare other horror fans to watch a movie , it’s “ martyrs . ”

you paint such a harrowing picture of this film and this is my second experience with french extremity , irreversible i found to be truly disturbing if you can class it in the same genre .

famed writer / director woody allen ' s first r - rated dramatic - erotic thriller , and his first film set and shot in england . the film , without allen ' s typical humor , recalled elements of a place in the sun ( 1951 ) , body heat ( 1981 ) , fatal attraction ( 1987 ) , allen ' s own crimes and misdemeanors ( 1989 ) , his future film cassandra ' s dream ( 2007 ) , and similarities to dostoyevsky ' s crime and punishment 1866 novel . its main tagline was : " passion , temptation , obsession . "

modleski , tania . “the terror of pleasure : the contemporary horror film and postmodern theory” in studies in entertainment : critical approaches to mass culture . ( indiana university press ) , 1986 . ↩

certainly one of the smarter horror films to come along in awhile ( and leagues above that saw and hostel trash ) . im not a fan of torture porn but martyrs isnt really a part of that genre . it has an agenda far more significant than simply freaking its viewer out via the graphic violence . it does come across a tad pretentious though in the end . i dont enjoy leaving a film feeling more a test subject than a viewer .

this seems to be the question of the most interest , so let’s get right to it . if you’ve seen the first , or to put it more bluntly , are a huge fan of the first film’s violence ; this film will certainly not shock you . the first film pretty much knocked it out of the park with how far you can push torture and pain cinematically : it was literally breathtaking . but for as many people that loved it ; it alienated just as many . this version is definitely a bit more accessible graphic - wise : but still pushes boundaries nonetheless .

considering how great his newest movie is , it really is a bummer that we ' ll never get to see what daniel stamm would have done with martyrs . 13 sins is one of the smartest remakes i ' ve seen in a good while , proving stamm is the kind of director who really understands how to update source material so fans aren ' t just getting an identical retread with no identity of its own . we just hope that whoever inherits this new , low - budget version of martyrs has those same instincts .

the goetz brothers ( scenic route ) have directed the u . s . version of pascal laugier’s 2009 french horror film that challenged religion , and played a cathartic role in his real life loss .

laugier first came to public acclaim in france in 2004 with his debut film house of voices , which went on to have a spectacular success at the spanish box office in the summer of 2005 .

with its story told in reverse , it was challenging in itself just to watch due to its non - linear , backwards narrative structure . a crucial fact about the smoothly - edited film was :

he sells out to blamed , evil hollywood as well by doing a remake to " martyrs " ( at least he will be involved with the script and obviously will make a lot of cash with it ) . so that guy sold out twice . talk about capitalism .

but the biggest achievement of the film is most certainly its two leads . i’ve read reviews accusing the characters of being one - note , but that’s ridiculous . these girls are frightened , traumatised , panicked and heart - racing the entire time they’re on screen . acting those emotions for the length of time it takes to shoot a film is an incredible feat , especially because they do it so convincingly .

and reconsider their position . this isn’t my way of chastising people with different opinions than myself but rather my way of saying : “this film is a good example of what’s wrong with the term . ”

[ note : at the end of the film , " teddy " equated leonard with sammy jankis : " sammy didn ' t have a wife . it was your wife who had diabetes . " ]

like the worst real - world monsters ( josef mengele is the obvious example ) , the movie’s torturers , whose true motivation is revealed in the final act , are also convinced that they’re doing the right thing . they see themselves as experimenters , explorers , brave pioneers – and , disturbingly , martyrs manages to temporarily put its audience into their blood - stained shoes . even as we wince for the film’s victims , we find ourselves simultaneously desperate to know what their abusers will uncover .

" martyrs is very nihilistic , " he told 24 frames . " the american approach [ that i ' m looking at ] would go through all that darkness but then give a glimmer of hope . you don ' t have to shoot yourself when it ' s over . "

and when it comes to " barking up the wrong tree : " um , no . if people can analyze symbols and structure of an art film , i don ' ; t see why the horror film should be off limits . so perhaps you should go read something else if you think that my writing is a waste of time . posted by simon abrams on 2009 - 11 - 14 17 : 54 : 46

and martyrs’s final section , which focuses on lucie’s friend and would - be lover anna ( alaoui ) , is almost entirely composed of sustained , dispassionately clinical scenes of torture – all of which build to a famously grim conclusion ( game of thrones villain ramsay bolton would probably approve ) .

smith and the goetzes have taken liberties with laugier ' s plot , shuffling the order of events and changing which characters live or die . and while the violence is relentless in the final third of the new " martyrs , " it ' s much less explicit than the french version .

for a film that ' s really personal such as this , it ' s far better for yourself to decipher these things on your own . no one gets any meaning or learns from art through asking " what is it " , but a different method would be pure discussion from the basic philosophy of the film , something in which you can derive your own personal meaning from instead of being given an answer . just sayin

laura mulvey , “visual pleasure and narrative cinema” in film theory and criticism : introductory readings , eds . leo braudy and marshall cohen . new york : oxford up , 1999 : 833 - 44 , 837 . ↩

fans of the original will probably see it as fairly pointless , but when you’re plugged into the horror community , it’s easy to forget that most people have never seen the french martyrs . whether it be the fact that they couldn’t track down a copy , they heard about the gratuitous violence and decided to avoid it , or , probably most likely , they just didn’t want to read subtitles , many people have never been exposed to the 2008 nihilistic genre mash up that combined three sub genres into one : supernatural , home invasion , and horrifying torture porn . in fact , removing some of the more abusive moments from the feature may actually play out well , with blumhouse now announced to produce , sticking to the bare minimum plot points while holding back on the barbaric antics will attract just the kind of crowds they’re looking for — young adults who have never seen the original .

ultimately , horror movies can frighten us in lots of different ways , combining their inherent darkness with sly humour , adrenalin - fuelled scares , or with painterly splashes of gore . but martyrs is a rare creation : a 21 st - century film that subtly elicits all the sorrow of the preceding century , imbues its scenes of torture with a sense of vivid , heart - breaking pity , and forces us to really feel . is it painful to watch ? very much so . but worth the suffering ? absolutely .

the original french film , written and directed by pascal laugier , has attained cult status as one of the most grueling and upsetting of the recent era of horror cinema that nonetheless deserves critical plaudits—more audition than a serbian film , in short . laugier is a provocateur with a fondness for narrative twists coupled with weighty political and philosophical themes , as demonstrated ( to solid but lesser effect ) in both his debut house of voices and more recent english - language thriller the tall man . his martyrs is in part an endurance test , a film that dares you to look away from its disgusting images even as it invites you to grapple with a story in which suffering plays a pivotal role . in reworking it for the no - subtitles english audience , that element of endurance is gone , and with it , the gut - punch of an ending which felt so earned is excised , in order to hurriedly wrap up a plot that now feels more trashy than weighty .


hitler 's madman is a 1943 world war ii film about the assassination of nazi reinhard heydrich and the lidice massacre revenge taken by the germans .

the picture was produced by seymour nebenzal for prc and angelus pictures , inc . it starred patricia morison and featured john carradine as heydrich .

the shooting of hitler 's madman took place late in 1942 and early 1943 .

sirk hired german cinematographer eugen schüfftan to shoot the film , but since he was not allowed in the united states at the time , the credit was instead given to jack greenhalgh .

when hitler 's madman was finished , mgm 's louis b. mayer bought the production ( reshoots were made in mgm 's own studios ) , making it one of the few , and possibly the first , film originally from another company to be distributed by mgm .

hitler ' s madman

hitler ' s madman <EOT> douglas sirk recreates the assassination of heydrich , hollywood style , in “hitler’s madman” .

hitler ' s madman was originally called hitler ' s hangman but had its title changed to avoid confusion with the previously - released lang film .

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extracto de la película estadounidense hitler ' s madman ( 1943 ) en la que john carradine interpreta al dirigente de las ss reinhardt heydrich .

hitler ' s air force aide bernd freytag von loringhoven told the cameras about the poisoning of hitler ' s beloved alsatian dog ' blondi ' .

actually both did pretty well . hitler ' s madman was a super - cheap b - movie that turned out so well it was picked up by mgm and given a wide release .

starting with charlie chaplin’s “the great dictator , ” “triumph of the will” provided material for anti - nazi satire ; it also figured as an image of the nazi new order in hollywood’s wartime efforts . two examples , “hitler’s children” and “hitler’s madman” ( both quickly made low - budget films from 1943 ) , are available on dvd from warner archive .

hitler in leni riefenstahl’s “triumph of the will” ( 1935 ) , a “documentary” largely staged .

ganz displays a great command of the awkward bavarian - austrian accent which hitler spoke and manages to give a natural edge to hitler ' s notorious outbursts .

' hitler ' s meals were delicious . . . asparagus , bell peppers , . . .

love song : adolf hitler and eva braun . arthur kannberg , hitler ' s butler , revealed how a song called ' blood red roses ' was the favourite of hitler and eva , a record they listened to ' over and over '

according to hitler ' s secretary she hated blondi and was known to kick her under the dining table .

on thursday , germany ' s frankfurter rundschau daily published an interview with niklas frank , the son of hitler ' s former general governor to poland , who tried to explain why so many germans were seduced by hitler .

showing hitler with a permanent stoop , trembling from parkinson ' s disease , ganz plays a deteriorating character , resembling both the breakdown of a human being and the system hitler created .

two historical war films about operation anthropoid , the assassination of nazi leader reinhard heydrich in prague during world war ii ( like hangmen also die and hitler ' s madman , oddly enough ) . the two films were released less than a year apart .

arthur kannberg , hitler ' s butler , revealed how a song called ' blood red roses ' was the favourite of hitler and eva , a record they listened to ' over and over . '

love letters : adolf hitler taking the salute at era in thuringia during a march by his supporters . traudl junge , who was hitler ' s favourite secretary , said he often received love letters from admirers

khloe kardashian shows off neon sign in true ' s nursery . . . as she reveals it ' s kris jenner ' s handwriting

a new film portraying adolf hitler as both a delusional madman and an occasionally softer father figure premiered in germany on thursday . but it has already triggered a furious public debate about whether it ' s the right time to break one of the nation ' s last taboos — showing the nazi leader as a human being .

hitler ' s madman was the first film sirk directed in the united states . sirk was a german , and despite being anti - nazi he worked in the german film industry until shortly before his escape to the west in 1938 . sirk made it to hollywood by 1939 but didn ' t get hired to direct a movie until hitler ' s madman , which was a b - movie shot super - cheap over just seven days . sirk had actually met reinhard heydrich at a party in germany , and was able to give carradine advice on how to play the part .

blatant lies : just before he dies , heydrich tells himmler some hard truths , namely that this is all hitler ' s fault and germany is going to lose . afterwards , himmler calls hitler and says that heydrich ' s last words were " victory is certain ! heil hitler ! " after he hangs up himmler mutters " dead men tell no tales . "

hitler the human hitler is played by 63 - year - old swiss actor bruno ganz , who critics say is able to produce a photographic resemblance of the austrian - born dictator .

hitler ' s madman is a 1943 film directed by douglas sirk . it is a dramatization of the events surrounding the real life assassination of reinhard heydrich in prague , czechoslovakia in 1942 , and the retaliatory massacre of the entire village of lidice , which cost 1300 lives . it stars john carradine as heydrich .

like “hangmen also die ! ” ( 1943 ) , fritz lang’s film on the same subject , “hitler’s madman” involved significant german émigré talent : it was produced by seymour nebenzal , whose credits included lang’s “m , ” and was directed by the recently arrived douglas sirk . eugen schüfftan , who shot “metropolis , ” worked ( uncredited ) on the cinematography ; edgar g . ulmer ( also uncredited ) was responsible for the sets .

a far better movie , “ hitler’s madman ” evokes a larger nazi atrocity : the destruction of lidice , a czech town where all the male inhabitants were executed in revenge for the assassination of their german overlord reinhard heydrich , a key figure in the nazi hierarchy ( who makes a cameo appearance in “triumph of the will” ) .

“the downfall” portrays the last 12 days in the life of the hitler , and is told from the point of view of traudl junge , one of hitler ' s personal secretaries . it is based in parts on junge ' s biography and also the book , " the downfall , " by historian joachim fest .

' he watched as cyanide was slipped into his dog’s mouth . he was emotionless . he only wanted to know if it worked ' : hitler ' s confidantes describe his last days in extraordinary never - before - seen interviews

erich kempka , hitler ' s chauffeur from the earliest days of the nazi movement , scrounged the necessary fuel to burn the bodies in the garden of the reichs chancellery .

hitler ' s madman is based on an all - too - real wartime atrocity . john carradine portrays heydrich , the vicious ss officer put in charge of nazi - occupied czechoslovakia . heydrich is killed by the czech underground , prompting the nazis to plan a horrible retaliation . the gestapo selects the czech village of lidice for annihilation : they kill all the male villagers , throw the women and children into concentration camps , and torch lidice into nonexistence . the victims of nazi tyranny become martyrs to the underground cause , ending the film on a note of triumph . based on a narrative poem by edna st . vincent millay , hitler ' s madman was produced by the " poverty row " prc studio , but was sold to mgm and given a class - a presentation at choice theatres throughout the u . s .

' he also spoke of a ' secret stash ' of treasure of hitler ' s which he hid near to his home at berchtesgaden , but it has never been found .

" the film shows very well that hitler was not only crazy . he had a human side , which was likeable at times , " frank said . " i could have watched bruno ganz as hitler incessantly , " frank said .

relationship : hitler ( standing third from right ) and va braun ( kneeling far right ) . his butler said ' hitler and eva were very much in love , but perhaps not to the extent that he ever wanted children with her '

jill zarin admits she ' s ready to date again after being spotted with handsome businessman . . . following beloved husband bobby ' s death

it ' s a hat trick for mcqueen ! kate repeats the look she chose for george and charlotte ' s christenings in . . .

as the war continued , and nazi atrocities worsened , bonhoeffer joined others to plot against hitler . but operation valkyrie failed to kill the german ruler ( on july 20 , 1944 ) , and his revenge against those immediately responsible was swift , and fatal . claus von stauffenberg , who’d left a briefcase bomb in hitler’s planning room at wolf’s lair , was executed the day after the bomb exploded .

traudl junge , who was hitler ' s favourite secretary , told the cameras how her boss was receiving love letters from besotted followers right up until his suicide in the berlin bunker in april 1945 .

' as i remembered that the air conditioning system was fuelled by diesel , i personally denied them entrance to the bunker . i relented after heinz linge , hitler ' s valet , vouched for them . this was , of course , the petrol that was to be used to cremate the bodies of hitler and eva braun .

' hitler and eva were very much in love , but perhaps not to the extent that he ever wanted children with her .

there was champagne but hitler didn ' t drink any . he was concerned about getting his last will and testament down . '

hitler ' s madman , a wwii propaganda film , had a complex origin story : filmed shortly after the real events it depicts ( the assassination of senior nazi reinhard heydrich and the subsequent massacre of the czech town of lidice in reprisal ) , the appearance of fritz lang ' s similarly - themed hangmen also die ! caused its release to be delayed and it also suffered a title change from the catchier hitler ' s hangman . on the plus side , the tiny independent production , shot in just a week , was acquired by mgm and given a bigger budget for re - shoots to enhance its production values . but sirk ruefully admitted the new scenes actually weakened the film ' s poverty row sensibility , which gave it a slight documentary flavor which was useful .

yet , the audience is also shown a charming side of hitler , a man who shows moments of kindness toward his female staff .

he had helped to prosecute nazi war criminals and had been given special access to the remnants of hitler ' s court because the us navy believed rumours that the fuehrer had escaped to argentina after the war .

' hitler was emotionless . he only wanted to know if it worked and it did . later the propaganda minister ' s wife magda goebbels would use the capsules to murder all her children as they slept . '

one bunker functionary called lorenz said that after hitler and eva married on april 29 1945 ' there was a little party in the bunker .

" forever in the spell of evil , " read the headline of a stern magazine report , which claims that even 60 years later , germans still have to question why they cannot escape from hitler ' s shadow .

gatling good : among karel ' s equipment is a souped - up gatling gun that can fire 300 rounds a minute . it ' s used against heydrich .

new york holocaust survivor ' s $ 40m fortune set to be . . .

remarkable interviews with the circle of confidantes who surrounded adolf hitler in the days before his suicide have been shown for the first time on german television .

they revealed intimate domestic details of hitler ' s favourite tea , the love letters from his admirers and the love song that he and eva braun , the woman he married in the underground hide , listened to over and over again .

' i then helped carry the corpses . while linge and an orderly whom i do not remember were carrying the corpse of adolf hitler , i carried the corpse of eva hitler . i noticed the long black trousers and the black shoes which the fuehrer usually wore with his field - gray uniform jacket .

' i was frozen , ' he said , ' then raised my arm automatically one last time in the ' hitler greeting ' to salute him . '

hermann karnau , an s . s . bodyguard of the fuehrer who escaped the bunker and tried to return to it at the last moment , said ; ' i tried to get back through into the bunker through the emergency exit when i saw about 20 metres away from me the bodies of adolf hitler and eva braun .

ben affleck ' s $ 19m la mansion is surrounded by moving trucks . . . as it ' s revealed girlfriend lindsay shookus plans to spend more time on west coast

– tom ryan’s overview in the “ great directors ” section of senses of cinema .

" a hodgepodge of body parts that any four - year - old could have painted . " it dismisses the mural as the dream of a madman . even the soviets , who had sided with the spanish government against franco , react coolly . they favor more overt imagery , believing that only more realistic art can have political or social consequence . yet picasso ' s tour de force would become one of this century ' s most unsettling indictments of war .

hitler was given his beloved dog as a gift and he became so fond of her that she slept in his bedroom in the bunker during his final days .

" parachuting near the occupied village of lidice , czech soldier karel vavra . . . recruits saboteurs in the fight against the nazis . determined to end the resistance , reich protector reinhard heydrich . . . murders priests , closes schools and forces the female students to " entertain " german soldiers . incensed by the atrocities , vavra and the partisans plot to assassinate heydrich , an act of reprisal that will ensure lidice ' s fate through the hands of reichsführer himmler . independently produced by german expatriates and powered by sirk ' s distinctive visual style , hitler ' s madman is . . . a superior b - movie that captures the harrowing events that took place in lidice on june 10 , 1942 " - - container .

at a time when the mainstream church of his country seemed to turn a blind eye to hitler , dietrich bonhoeffer ( a lutheran pastor ) took a different path . although a pacifist , bonhoeffer decided to actively resist hitler and the perverse effects the third reich had on the laws , and lives , of so many people .

because heydrich had been nicknamed " hangman heydrich . " however , fritz lang ' s film

' diana would be ashamed ' : meghan ' s bitter half - sister . . .

13 reasons why villain justin prentice says he ' s not bothered by social media trolls . . . and that getting attacked online means he ' s doing his job as an actor

' i last saw hitler alive around about 4 . 00pm that day . i believed that the fuehrer had been poisoned by his personal physician dr ludwig stumpfegger . '

– also in senses of cinema , tag gallagher’s essay “ white melodrama : douglas sirk . ”

initially brought to hollywood for a remake that never materialized , he made his american directing debut with hitler’s madman ( 1943 ) and impressed producers with strikingly stylish low budget projects such as summer storm ( 1944 ) and a scandal in paris ( 1946 ) , the latter with george sanders bringing a mix of bemusement , blasã© , and aristocratic poise to the role of suave con man and criminal mastermind vidocq . the cramped but richly sumptuous sets gives the production the look of a half - scale model of paris , and sirk keeps the film bubbling with droll playfulness and continental wit .

hitler ' s adjutant nicholas von below was interviewed , along with his favourite film director leni riefenstahl , the family of his mistress - and wife of 24 hours - eva braun , who committed suicide with him in his bunker , and generals walther wenck and karl koller .

joanna gaines shares husband chip ' s unique birth tradition . . . as he cradles newborn son crew

two films about winston churchill when he was the uk ' s prime minister during world war ii .

bonhoeffer was executed at flossenburg concentration camp in april of 1945 , days before it was liberated by advancing allied troops . it is said that hitler personally gave the order for his execution .

last day : adolf hitler and his wife eva braun pose with their pets . the dictator is holding his favourite dog blondi on a leash . he was to have her poisoned with cyanide

to picasso ' s native soil in a testimony of national reconciliation . in its final journey , picasso ' s apocalyptic vision has served as a banner for a nation on its path toward freedom and democracy .

created by the twentieth century ' s most well - known and least understood artist . but the mural called

“hitler’s children” is framed by miniature versions of the nuremberg congress , with german teenagers clustered around a bonfire consecrating their lives to the führer . lurid yet turgid , the movie is a tale of doomed puppy love , nazi eugenics and sexual sadism . ads featured the image of a freedom - loving american girl ( bonita granville , hollywood’s original nancy drew ) given a ritual flogging by a member of the ss .

parts of the film portray hitler as a psychopath , wandering the corridors of the bunker below the streets of berlin , ignorant to the collapse of his empire and to the suffering population above his head .

hoping for a bold visual protest to franco ' s treachery from spain ' s most eminent artist , colleagues and representatives of the democratic government have come to picasso ' s home in paris to ask him to paint the mural . though his sympathies clearly lie with the new republic , picasso generally avoids politics - and disdains overtly political art .

sirk never denies the overwrought emotions and mawkish sentimentality of these films ; he pours on the exaggeration and irony in equal doses . itâ€™s oddly appropriate that sirkâ€™s popular hits were critically snubbed on their release . that’s not to say that middle class crowds and sobbing housewives saw past the glossy surfaces to see the brechtian engagements with middle class malaise and

is delivered to the spanish pavilion , where the paris exposition is already in progress . located out of the way , and grouped with the pavilions of smaller countries some distance from the eiffel tower , the spanish pavilion stood in the shadow of albert speer ' s monolith to nazi germany . the spanish pavilion ' s main attraction , picasso ' s

pressure point sidney poitier plays a tightly wound prison psychiatrist saddled with bobby darin’s american nazi patient in this 1962 drama produced by stanley kramer , reissued on blu - ray . the times critic bosley crowther praised mr . poitier’s “coolly forceful performance” and noted that , “as was intended , mr . darin’s portrayal should make anyone recoil . ” ( olive films )

he said ; ' i remember with complete sureness that i was called on april 30 by s . s . sturmbannfuehrer guensche while i was in the reich chancellery garage asking me to bring over five cans of petrol to the bunker .

revealed : the four warning signs you could be heading for divorce - including critcising your partner ' s . . .

yes , said bernd eichinger , one of germany ' s top directors , who wrote the screenplay for the movie .

america won world war ii : karel helpfully tells the townsfolk that millions of men " in england and america " are joining up to fight hitler . that business on the eastern front was no big deal , apparently .

riefenstahl’s mass formations of marching members of the hitler youth remind many film historians of the dance numbers choreographed in hollywood by busby berkeley . like berkeley , riefenstahl understood the power of synchronized sound . the music in her film is nearly continuous ; shots showing a sea of nazi banners or a forest of upraised arms are edited to the beat .

the raising of lidice and the almost total slaughter of its inhabitants elicited worldwide revulsion when its story was brazenly touted by hitler’s third reich in june , 1942 . widely - feared ss officer heydrich , a chief architect of hitler’s “final solution , ” was an embarrassingly high - value target to get taken out by opposition guerrillas , so an enraged reich furher adolph hitler and ss chief heinrich himmler believed an overpowering response was needed to quell any potential rising tide of rebellion among the reich’s occupied people . when incorrect gestapo intelligence linked the towns of lidice and lezaky to the british special operations executive - trained czech guerrillas that killed heydrich , reprisals against both towns were sickening in their barbarity : all males over 16 were summarily shot ; the women of lezaky were also killed while the women of lidice were sent to concentration camps where most later died , as were all the children ( 81 of whom were gassed immediately ) . every last animal in the villages was slaughtered , and both towns were completely raised , with lidice’s remains covered in soil and planted with crops , as if it never existed . final death toll : over 1 , 400 people taken in revenge for heydrich’s assassination . it was an atrocity particularly stunning in its heartless calculation , during a time of seemingly daily similar outrages .

examination : life correspondent percy knauth sifting through the dirt & debris in the shallow shell hole where the bodies of hitler and eva braun were thought to have been burned after their suicides , in the garden of the reichstag .

ganz agreed . " if i would not have felt sympathy for the character and would not have managed to make the audience feel sympathy for the creature hitler , then i would have failed in my job as an actor . "

a beautiful film that takes beauty as its subject , led by a b actress illuminated in the films of france’s diagonale directors .

number of refugees accepted into the u . s . falls below the rest of the world combined for the first time since 1980

kendall jenner boats in sheer dress . . . after snuggling up to her nba beau ben simmons at khloe kardashian ' s party

la résistance : karel ' s job and what he wants the people of lidice to help him with . hanka and jarmilla do .

iconic movie home where molly ringwald ' s sixteen candles was filmed finally sells for $ 1 . 135 million after two years on market

number of refugees accepted into the u . s . falls below the rest of the world combined for the first time . . .

, open and lush in contrast to wymanâ€™s drab , confining house and sterile suburban street . ( rainer werner fassbinder , who appropriated both sirkâ€™s style and use of melodramatic structures , remade heaven as ali : fear eats the soul with the added dimension of race . )

2016 released historical war dramas set in the american 1800 ' s about a revolutionary who starts a revolution against the oppressive southern government .

the story of moshe the beadle , with which night opens , is perhaps the most painful example of the jews’ refusal to believe the depth of nazi evil . it is also a cautionary tale about the danger of refusing to heed firsthand testimony , a tale that explains the urgency behind wiesel’s own account . moshe , who escapes from a nazi massacre and returns to sighet to warn the villagers of the truth about the deportations , is treated as a madman . what is crucial for wiesel is that his own testimony , as a survivor of the holocaust , not be ignored . moshe’s example in this section is a reminder that the cost of ignoring witnesses to evil is a recurrence of that evil .

august wollenhaupt , the barber of hitler , was also interviewed and he described a ' genial , soft spoken man ' who enquired after his family and who always wanted to know what ' the gossip from the man in the street was . '

a colonel holsten who was in the bunker when hitler and eva ended their lives on april 30 1945 told how he saw the bodies being dragged up the narrow stairs to the reich chancellery garden where they were doused in petrol and set aflame .

breaking the fourth wall : this propaganda machine film ends with the spirits of the dead of lidice , still in character , parading by the camera and looking straight at the audience , urging americans to think of them and continue the struggle against hitler .

tcm celebrates the 100th anniversary of a musical legend with three nights of programming devoted to some of leonard bernstein ' s . . . more

brilliant , tedious and irredeemably evil , leni riefenstahl’s “triumph of the will” ( 1935 ) is one of the great conundrums of cinema history .

lauren conrad ' s son liam takes a handful of cake . . . as proud mom ' celebrates one year with our little guy '

' we only knew each other between action and cut ' : robin wright breaks her silence on kevin spacey ' s sexual . . .

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[ criterion releases douglas sirk’s magnificent obsession this week . in celebration , i offer this essay , which was originally published on greencine in 2007 ]

" what we are trying to do is give hitler a three - dimensional portrait , because we know from all accounts that he was a very charming man , " said director oliver hirschbiegel . " a man who managed to seduce a whole people into barbarism . "

unfortunately , carradine is in very few scenes . patricia morison , whom sirk admired , is top - billed , but she ' s paired with alan curtis , a mustache in search of an actor . alone , she ' s good ( shiny - eyed , lush - lipped , highly emotive ) , but , frustrated by her co - star ' s burnished wooden performance , she overplays to try and force something out of him . this means she never seems to be reacting to what he ' s actually doing , or listening to what he ' s saying , but to what she wishes he were doing or saying . rarely have i see two actors so badly out of sync : one limpid , the other merely limp .

was finished , mgm mogul louis mayer saw it and liked it so much he bought it for his studio , making it one of the few , if not the first , outside films to be distributed by mgm . at mayer ' s insistence , sirk reshot material in october and november of 1942 though sirk felt that this somewhat compromised the documentary nature of his film . yet , despite the film ' s timely nature and mayer ' s enthusiasm ,

‘s dream factory version of heaven . ( stanwyck and sirk teamed up for one more outing , the underrated b & w melodrama there’s always tomorrow ( 1956 ) a suffocating look at suburban middle class life with fred macmurray in the traditionally female role of the dreamer who sacrifices his dreams for family . )

on april 27th , 1937 , unprecedented atrocities are perpetrated on behalf of franco against the civilian population of a little basque village in northern spain . chosen for bombing practice by hitler ' s burgeoning war machine , the hamlet is pounded with high - explosive and incendiary bombs for over three hours . townspeople are cut down as they run from the crumbling buildings . guernica burns for three days . sixteen hundred civilians are killed or wounded .

i ' m cold . . . so cold . . . : actually , heydrich says " it ' s getting dark " right before he croaks .

is not at all what pablo picasso has in mind when he agrees to paint the centerpiece for the spanish pavilion of the 1937 world ' s fair .

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– bruce reid’s “ all the genre allows , ” an appreciation of douglas sirk written to celebrate a 1999 sirk retrospective in seattle and published in the stranger .

german filmmaker douglas sirk ( né hans detlef sierck ) directed almost 40 films in a career that spanned three decades . a late bloomer known for grand , gorgeously expressive and emotional melodramas in the 1950s , he took a third of his career to hit full stride . the early movies were comedies , glossy adventure stories and war dramas . during his days working in germany the director was heavily censored and when he escaped to the united states in 1937 he found himself stifled once again , “a director in hollywood in my time couldn’t do what he wanted to do , ” he once said . 1942’s vengeful , vehemently anti - nazi “ hitler’s madman ” only really existed because it was seen as patriotic , and films sirk made as late as 1952 , like “ has anyone seen my gal ? ” featuring his broad - shouldered go - to male muse rock hudson , were insubstantial trifles compared to his mature work . that film , lightweight comedy though it is , does still possess hints of commentary on class , status , money and the sickening desire for it all — themes sirk would explore , and quietly explode , in his best work .

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a virtual pariah after the war , riefenstahl was a strenuous advocate for her rehabilitation . her comeback suffered a major setback with susan sontag’s 1975 essay “ fascinating fascism ” — which eviscerated the artist’s whitewashing of her past — but riefenstahl was embraced by many cinéastes . she was honored by the telluride film festival and profiled in vanity fair . the critic john simon called her “one of the supreme artists of the cinema . ” “triumph of the will” was named to anthology film archives’ canon of “essential cinema . ” the shot in which hitler and two associates solemnly walk through the assembled mass is quoted in the ceremony that concludes the 1977 “star wars . ”

inspired by true events , douglas sirk ' s first american film is a powerful tale of the czech resistance in wwii , with john carradine as the vicious nazi commander .

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arcadia : lidice , a lovely peaceful quiet farming village , as shown in the opening montage that quotes edna st . vincent millay ' s poetic novel the murder of lidice .

, but the film still takes many liberties . possibly justified as it was made barely a year after heydrich ' s assassination and the details still weren ' t well known .

no doubt , “the downfall” has triggered a renewed public debate , not only in germany , but across europe , on what many call " germany ' s biggest trauma . ”

' i recognised that it was hitler from his uniform and his distinctive moustache . i had seen the fuehrer alive that morning sitting in his favourite wicker chair . later in the day , before the suicides , i recalled seeing four men arrive with gasoline cans which they said was for the air conditioning system inside the bunker .

sofia richie , 19 poses in a bikini top just after scott disick ' s ex kourtney kardashian , 39 , did the same . . . and fans call her out for it

khloe kardashian ' anxious but eager ' as she gets back to work for the first time since true ' s birth . . . and her alarm goes off at 4 . 35am

is acclaimed as an artistic masterpiece , taking its rightful place among the great spanish treasures of el greco , goya and velazquez . " a lot of people recognize the painting , " says art historian patricia failing . " they may not even know that it ' s a picasso , but they recognize the image . it ' s a kind of icon . "

in 1973 , pablo picasso , the most influential artist of the twentieth century , dies at the age of ninety - two . and when franco dies in 1975 , spain moves closer to its dream of democracy . on the centenary of picasso ' s birth , october 25th , 1981 , spain ' s new republic carries out the best commemoration possible : the return of

sirk’s body of work was reevaluated by the cahiers du cinema crowd , but there’ve been many others who have helped . rainer werner fassbender was a huge proponent of sirk’s work and remade “all that heaven allows” as “ ali : fear eats the soul . ” in fact , many of his pictures were heavily indebted to sirk’s style including the sumptuously colorful “ lola . ” the echoed influence was then carried down to todd haynes , indebted to both filmmakers , who made a homagistic pastiche of their work with “ far from heaven . ” quentin tarantino was also a fan and there’s an iconic line in “ pulp fiction ” when vincent vega ( john travolta ) orders the douglas sirk steak , which he makes sure is prepared “bloody as hell . ”

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let’s not forget that many of sirk’s best movies were remakes — and all remakes of 1930s john m . stahl films , including “magnificent obsession , ” “imitation of life” and “ when tomorrow comes ” which sirk made into the now the hard - to - find “ interlude ” ( which has been called an unsung masterpiece by richard brody . ) three other key films in sirk’s oeuvre , aside from “interlude” are “ all i desire ” starring barbara stanwyck , which feels like more of a test run for the sumptuous female - led melodramas he became famous for and “ a time to love and a time to die ” which blended his extravagant style with his penchant for war dramas . also of note is 1949’s “ shockproof ” written by samuel fuller and starring actor and sometime director cornel wilde .

a supremely artful feature - length recording of the 1934 nazi party congress , commissioned , according its credits , by order of the führer , “triumph of the will” raises a host of moral and aesthetic questions . ( the only real equivalent is d . w . griffith’s white supremacist magnum opus , “the birth of a nation . ” ) is “triumph of the will” a brilliantly innovative documentary ? is it a propaganda masterpiece ? a work of art — or simply , as zero mostel says in “the producers” of his calculated broadway flop , “a love letter to hitler” ?

rialto . for here in one lurid diatribe , mgm ' s assortment of authors have summed up practically every indictment against the nazis that they could crowd into one film . view full article in timesmachine »

the lang film is , i think , superior all round , but the two make interesting companions and sirk ' s is tougher , in a way . lang ' s movie , originally written by brecht , attempts to build in a small victory , as a villainous collaborator is framed for the assassination . sirk ends with the death of lidice and its populace as spirits , calling for the audience to avenge them .

gardner is barbara beaurevel , a poor new orleans beauty , circa 1890 , who inherits a fortune from her grandmother . but the family ' s money may have been earned by less - than - reputable means , which could spell disaster for the newly - respectable barbara . amid opulent sets and lavish costumes , gardner ' s barbara is determined to use the new funds to win the love of married man dr . mark lucas ( mitchum ) . helping in the break - up scheme is her cad cousin paul ( melvyn douglas ) , who ' s been told to woo the doctor ' s wife . but when the wife ( janis carter ) dies , dr . lucas is accused of murder . barbara comes forward at the last minute to clear his name , at the cost of revealing her sordid family background to the town .

“ the tarnished angels ” ( 1957 ) a type of companion piece to “ written on the wind , ” sirk’s antepenultimate film again featured the same producer / screenwriter and the trio of rock hudson , robert stack and dorothy malone . shot in black and white by irving glassberg and based on william faulkner ‘s “ pylon , ” this melodrama exploited the unlikely intersection of aviation and obsessive love in another quadrangle , like ‘wind . ’ “i need this plane like an alcoholic needs his drink , ” roger shumann ( played by stack ) says in his raison d’être soliloquy . hudson stars as burke devlin , a new orleans reporter intrigued by a peculiar gypsy aviation trio making ends meet in the depression - era carnival circuit by racing and pulling off stunts at rural air shows . shumann , a disillusioned wwi vet , cares for nothing but flying . not even his wife laverne ( malone ) a daredevil parachutist , his loyal mechanic jiggs ( jack carson ) or his doting son jack ( christopher olsen ) can penetrate his compulsion to fly — it’s the only thing in life he seems to do right . devlin , selfishly only sees a story at first , but soon becomes enamoured of the loveless laverene and discovers the true nature of this trio’s already blemished history together . while captivating , it’s perhaps not quite as absorbing as sirk’s expressive color pictures of the 1950s . still , it’s artistically ambitious and due for re - evaluation , not to mention a new transfer that highlights its somber and hard - fought mood .

was a test of the public ' s acceptance of mitchum ' s own recent past : the actor had been jailed briefly on marijuana charges in 1949 . studio chiefs and theater owners were anxious about how mitchum would be received by fans , but they shouldn ' t have worried . the prison stint seemed to accentuate mitchum ' s bad - boy persona , and swooning and screaming women greeted the actor at his appearances to promote the movie . " while ava gardner is receiving a wonderful reception , all bedlam breaks loose when mitchum appears on stage . he had to take five encores at the first show , " one theater manager wrote to hughes .

lang , however , is interested in complexity : when the nazis take hostages and threaten to execute them unless heidrich ' s assassins surrender themselves , a powerful moral conundrum is illuminated . sirk ' s film , with ralph morgan as mouthpiece , actually argues that complexity is a confounding illusion and that everything really does come down to simple questions of right and wrong : a defensible position if you have a figure like heydrich to represent wrong .

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the nuremberg laws , for example , discriminated against jewish people . before the holocaust began , hitler intimated his intentions when he commented on those laws in september , 1935 : “the third [ law ] is an attempt to regulate by law [ the jewish ] problem , which , should this attempt fail , must then be handed over by law to the national - socialist party for a final solution . ”

wpg begat a series of sequels ( 1929 - 1933 ) in which marines quirt and flagg have post - war adventures , with a new woman in each sequel . this was followed by john ford ' s 1952 remake .

was an effective and timely reaction to the front page news headlines of its day . heydrich ' s death occurred in june 1942 and the film was in theatres a year later . ( sirk claimed to have actually met heydrich during a ufa party in the early 1930s . ) there is also a key scene in the film that references a renowned american poet . shortly after the notorious massacre in lidice , the writer ' s war board asked edna st . vincent millay for a poem about the incident . the resulting work - " the murder of lidice " - appeared as a radio broadcast heard across the country on nbc ' s network and was sent by short - wave to europe .

two films about the same subject could hardly be more different . lost command draws on jean larteguy ' s novel the centurions , about french paratroopers fighting in vietnam and algeria . it ' s unreservedly pro - french , albeit with a token war is hell message added . battle of algiers is a docudrama produced by italian director gillo pontecorvo and sponsored by the algerian government . though intended as algerian propaganda , it provides a relatively even - handed treatment of the conflict .

joining the abwehr ( the german military intelligence organization led by hitler - hating admiral wilhelm canaris ) , bonhoeffer ( and others like him ) got access to vital war information . what better way for people working against the third reich to pass key information to anti - nazi contacts ? but the price of such efforts , if one were suspected as a spy ( and caught ) , was life in a concentration camp ( or worse ) .

one of sirk ' s best players is a real german , johanna hofer ( not even credited ) , wife of the great actor fritz kortner . if the film has a sirkian heartbreak moment , it ' s from her , as she learns of the deaths of her sons on the eastern front , which triggers her defection from the nazi cause . if sirk had a cast as uniformly good as carradine and hofer , he could have made a classic . shortly later , he would . . .

when douglas sirk left germany shortly after the nazis came to power , he was one of that country ' s better - known directors , having made several well - received films with top stars . he arrived in the u . s . late in 1937 and because he was an unknown talent in hollywood , he had to rebuild his career from the ground up , writing screenplays for columbia and making low - budget films for small studios . a good example of the latter is his first american movie ,

challenges our notions of warfare as heroic and exposes it as a brutal act of self - destruction . but it is a hallmark of picasso ' s art that any symbol can hold many , often contradictory meanings , and the precise significance of the imagery in

one of the enduring questions that has tormented the jews of europe who survived the holocaust is whether or not they might have been able to escape the holocaust had they acted more wisely . a shrouded doom hangs behind every word in this first section of night , in which wiesel laments the typical human inability to acknowledge the depth of the cruelty of which humans are capable . the jews of sighet are unable or unwilling to believe in the horrors of hitler’s death camps , even though there are many instances in which they have glimpses of what awaits them . eliezer relates that many jews do not believe that hitler really intends to annihilate them , even though he can trace the steps by which the nazis made life in hungary increasingly unbearable for the jews . furthermore , he painfully details the cruelty with which the jews are treated during their deportation . he even asks his father to move the family to palestine and escape whatever is to come , but his father is unwilling to leave sighet behind . we , as readers whom history has made less naïve than the jews of sighet , sense what is to come , how annihilation draws inexorably closer to the jews , and watch helplessly as the jews fail to see , or refuse to acknowledge , their fate .

" der untergang " or " the downfall , " a film directed by oliver hirschbiegel and produced by bernd eichinger , takes a less historic and more personal approach toward the topic of germany ' s nazi past , one that german filmmakers have hesitated to touch until now .

in this story behind the movie , meet dietrich bonhoeffer and claus von stauffenberg . see the effects of the bomb blast on wolf’s lair , and examine how it appears today . virtually visit the concentration camp at flossenburg , and learn what happened to camp prisoners just before flossenburg was liberated .

catch - 22 , despite an all - star cast , got tepid reviews and flopped . m * a * s * h was a huge success , made robert altman famous , inspired an even more successful tv series , and helped usher in the ' 70s auteur era in general .

production numbers aside , “triumph of the will” is devoted largely to speechifying . while hitler is a star performer , who practiced his histrionic gestures before a mirror , his colleagues are not . so stupefying are their exhortations and oaths of fealty , the movie might have been made as much to lull as to agitate . by the time it ends , after a lugubrious third nighttime rally , with a mass rendition of the nazi anthem “the horst wessel song , ” you expect to see a giant swastika go into a hypnotic spin .

sirk intended his movie to be “almost like a documentary , ” carradine’s cold , self - dramatizing impersonation not least . the filmmaker had once met heydrich at a berlin reception . “carradine was heydrich , ” he told an interviewer , adding , “a lot of nazis behaved like shakespearean actors . ”

the lipsmacking menace of heydrich , much of it sexual , stands in contrast to lubitsch ' s subtler work in to be or not to be , where that other great german cineaste used the idea that his nazis had so over - indulged in cruelty as to be bored by it , to justify laid - back performances that eschewed propaganda cliché . it ' s a more cunning approach , but if we must have leering , beady - eyed nazis , then carradine , gloating over teenage czech students arranged in some kind of horrific sex line - up , is an unbeatable manifestation of human monstrousness .

2001 war / actions films released a little less than a month . each set within the backdrop of a war during the 1990 ' s and centered around american troops who after a mission into hostile territory goes awry must survive the onslaught of the surrounding enemy and try to make it out alive .

the nazis then begin to deport the jews in increments , and eliezer’s family is among the last to leave sighet . they watch as other jews are crowded into the streets in the hot sun , carrying only what fits in packs on their backs . eliezer’s family is first herded into another , smaller ghetto . their former servant , a gentile named martha , visits them and offers to hide them in her village . tragically , they decline the offer . a few days later , the nazis and their henchmen , the hungarian police , herd the last jews remaining in sighet onto cattle cars bound for auschwitz .

from the beginning , picasso chooses not to represent the horror of guernica in realist or romantic terms . key figures - a woman with outstretched arms , a bull , an agonized horse - are refined in sketch after sketch , then transferred to the capacious canvas , which he also reworks several times . " a painting is not thought out and settled in advance , " said picasso . " while it is being done , it changes as one ' s thoughts change . and when it ' s finished , it goes on changing , according to the state of mind of whoever is looking at it . "

still coming to terms ”the downfall” is probably the most controversial of a number of german films in production that deal with the country ' s nazi past . a three - part television series on nazi propaganda minister joseph goebbels and a film called " the goebbels experiment " is to follow later this year .