French Literature Reviews - 2026
A. Fleischer, Retour au noir.
Art and Visual Culture
A. Fleischer, Retour au noir. Le cinéma de la Shoah: quand ça tourne autour
Paris: Léo Scheer
November 2016, 156 pages
- ISBN: 9782756111339
- 16 euros
Publisher's Description
The images—both films and photographs—taken during the liberation of the Nazi concentration camps profoundly altered our relationship with images in general. They provided proof of what would have been impossible to believe without them. In Night and Fog, Alain Resnais makes exemplary use of them. More problematic is the depiction of the Holocaust in fiction films, which are inevitably marked by an artistic staging of horror that has always drawn severe criticism.
This is why the unanimously enthusiastic reception of László Nemes's film, Son of Saul, which is open to the same criticisms as Schindler's List or Life Is Beautiful, can be interpreted as a symptom. A theoretical consensus has been imposed on the public, uniting figures concerned with the subject who are usually at odds.
If Son of Saul is considered the masterpiece on Auschwitz, does this mean it is time to move on to other subjects, and that the Holocaust has finally transitioned from History to art history?
A writer, filmmaker, and visual artist, Alain Fleischer has published several of his novels, short stories, and plays with Éditions Léo Scheer, as well as a monograph dedicated to his artistic work, La Vitesse d’évasion (2003).
Alain Fleischer positions his inquiry within the broader tradition of film theory and visual culture studies that examine how the camera bears witness to historical catastrophe. By analyzing the lingering impact of liberation footage, the book engages with foundational debates on the ethics of representation, referencing key works such as Alain Resnais's Night and Fog. The study critically interrogates the cinematic tropes used to stage extreme violence, addressing the ongoing tension between documentary proof and narrative artifice in the wake of the Shoah.
The volume offers a timely critical intervention for scholars of film, cultural historians, and anyone interested in the evolving relationship between collective memory and visual media. By questioning the critical consensus surrounding recent cinematic depictions of Auschwitz, Fleischer invites readers to reflect on how contemporary culture consumes representations of genocide. This concise essay is particularly useful for those seeking to navigate the complex theoretical terrain where ethics, aesthetics, and historical remembrance intersect.