Claude Lanzmann's The Holocaust and Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List are known as two of the most important films of the 20th century that depict tragedy history of the Holocaust. Although they were made eight years apart, both directors used techniques to present specific aspects of these historical events, including "slowing down" a scene with silence to create emotional effect. Using this technique, these two films played an important role in preserving the memory of the Holocaust. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Shoah by Claude Lanzmann could be considered one of the best documentaries created in history. His extraordinary documentary tells the story of the Holocaust without using voice-overs, narrations or historical film clips. Lanzmann presented interviews with survivors, bystanders and perpetrators, all living testimonies. He does the opposite of Spielberg, abandoning the historical film and instead using personal interviews in the Nazi extermination camps in Poland during World War II to show the tragedy of the Holocaust. Lanzmann made his film to connect the present with the past, which he considers more powerful than a typical historical documentary. Within the first twelve minutes of Shoah, we are immediately introduced to Simon Srebnik, a Holocaust survivor singing in a boat. He sings a song he last sang 35 years ago, when he was 13. As Simon sings, the audience is aware that something is happening, this technique is similar to that used by Spielberg in Schindler's List. They used sound that is not related to the scene we are watching, but we can draw conclusions and connect the two. Furthermore, Lanzmann's aim was to show how memories from two different individual memories could have the same meaning. In the opening scene we see the camera slow down as the boat slowly moves down the waterway. Lanzmann's creativity in using both tempo and silence brings the manipulation of tempo as the song speeds up. We see him looking, and as the song fades the emotional power of silence takes over as he simply stares at what was once a concentration camp, the camera then slowly pans to depict the camp in its entirety in silence. The film's movement sequences are slow to cause an emotional effect on the audience, making us wonder and think about what the purpose of this memory is and how to connect it to others. He then says “it’s hard to recognize but it was here”… “they burned people here”… “no one ever left here”. To achieve this emotion, Lanzman had to use every aspect of the film, especially hidden cameras, to slowly expose the camp in its entirety to depict this testimony. Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List, also known as "the seminal first encounter with the Holocaust", is considered one of the most acclaimed films of his career. This film acts as a time machine, taking us back to the past using one of Hollywood's oldest and most famous storytelling techniques. The aim of this film was to put viewers in the shoes of those who witnessed the horrors of the Holocaust and to raise awareness about the Holocaust to ensure that it is never forgotten. But not everyone liked it. Claude Lanzmann has.