The Flat

The Flat is an outstanding piece of documentary filmmaking.  It provides a history lesson that no one can forget.

Arnon Goldfinger is a relatively well known Israeli filmmaker who got into family history in an accidental sort of way:  He lost his 98 year old grandmother and went with his mother to clear out the flat.  In doing so, he came across documents that shocked him.

What documents?  No spoiler, so I won't say much.  The filmmaker discovers that his grandparents may well have been best friends with a Nazi.  So?  Well, there's more to this.  The Nazi in question happened to be high in the inner circle of culpable Germans, up there with Adolph Eichmann and other renowned monsters.

The filmmaker basically goes on a quest for truth, which takes him back to Germany.  There, he questions folks who know the SS soldier in question.  He also gets his mother to talk reluctantly about what she knew.

The secrets of the past unfold like petals of a flower.  With each new truth, the filmmaker asks more questions.  It seems that many folks just want to forget the past.  But can we?  Aren't we all products of our past?  And if we flee from our pasts, how can we define our futures?

Arnon the narrator digs and probes.  He seeks answers.

Before long, so do we.  And the answers we discover are unsettling, to say the least.

A top-notch film that every person of every nationality and faith should see.

Grade of A.