Amen

Greek born French filmmaker Costa-Gavras, best known for political themes, is not afraid to tackle what could well be deemed a taboo subject. 2002’s Amen was based on a highly controversial 1963 play by Rolf Hochhuth. The movie alleges that the Pope was aware of the predicament of the Jews in concentration camps during World War Two but failed to take public action to publicize or condemn the Holocaust. The Vatican has always declined to open its archives relating to Pope Pius X11 knowledge of the subject during the last war. The plight of the Jews is conveyed in the movie by a goods train going backwards and forwards along the same piece of track. One way the containers doors are open, obviously empty, the doors on the return journey are closed implying that the containers have some thing to hide. Like the film, I found this device a very unemotional way of indicating this atrocity.