Rupert Everett narrates this sensitive documentary about the Nazi persecution of homosexuals during World War II. "Paragraph 175" refers to the old German penal code concerning homosexuality, which was used to justify the prosecution of gay men during the war (the code ignored lesbians, still considered viable baby-making vessels). As mere rumor became enough to justify imprisonment, over 100,000 were arrested and between 10,000 and 15,000 were sent to concentration camps. In Paragraph 175, Klaus Müller, a historian from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, sets out to interview the fewer than 10 who are known to remain alive. The film covers the astonishingly quick rise of Hitler (one interviewee points out how ridiculous a figure he seemed at first) and the shock that more liberal Germans felt as it became clear that he was a force to be reckoned with. Some of the film's most touching moments come when the participants reminisce about their first loves and the "homosexual Eden" that was Berlin in the 1930s. This is a beautifully well made documentary that poignantly captures a piece of nearly forgotten history. --Ali Davis
2.
PARAGRAPH 175 is a documentary about the 10 to 15,000 German men who were arrested because of their homosexuality between the years of 1933 and 1945 during World War II. Some of the men were sent to concentration camps to be killed. Others, an estimated 4,000 survived. PARAGRAPH 175, from directors Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman (THE CELLULOID CLOSET), tells the tragic story and includes interviews with 7 of the only 9 living survivors.
It was Klaus Müller, curator of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, who convinced directors Epstein and Friedman of the urgent need to make the film PARAGRAPH 175. Despite their small number of survivors who remain to tell the tale, their accounts unearth a rich trove of anecdotal history. The stories of their treatment are both lyrical and horrific. These 20th Century gay Germans lived freely through the Weimar years. In the '30s, they were initially ignored by an indifferent Hitler. Then, with the implementation of an obscure legal statute (Paragraph 175) which aimed to exterminate homosexuals entirely, they became the victims of a brutal persecution.
Rupert Everett's solemn narration puts the stories in context, as do photographs, footage, and music that remind us of the eerie wistfulness of pre-Nazi Germany. The film makers also put the text of anti-homosexual laws and political statements right on the screen, along with a chillingly complete chart of symbols to be worn by camp prisoners (gay men wore a pink triangle). Ultimately, the film is a chance for a forgotten group of victims (they have never received reparations) to tell their story. They very nearly did not get the chance.
Mooviees.com is not the official site for this film.
All editorial views and opinions expressed here are for entertainment purposes only.
<>
Movie Database
In Theaters
