Rangy Manatee

Spielberg is subverting any possibility that the Holocaust is a ‘black and white’ subject and by its nature was made up of what Levi calls the ‘Grey Zone’. However, it is difficult not to be cynical. The black and white film somewhat shrewdly suggests an authenticity and a cognitive link with the past. The documentary footage of the time was, by no way of choice, filmed in black and white and therefore an audience may associate any thoughts of Auschwitz with grainy and unfocused two-tone images. Essentially the use of this colour film, by its very peculiarity, represents a cinematic trick to coerce the viewer’s sense of gravity, that what we are watching is very important. What is important is that the two are not confused.