Night and Fog
d. Alain Resnais, 1955
As far as movies about the Holocaust go, Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List and Claude Lanzmann's Shoah are perhaps the two most famous ones. I never really cared for the former and have not found the opportunity to approach the 9 1/2 hour Shoah (though I do plan to.) With that said, I think I can safely say that Alain Renais' Night and Fog holds a very important place amongst movies of the subject. Made only 10 years after the war ended, Resnais' film is perhaps the first cinematic account of what went on in concentration camps. The film plays out like a visual essay, and it's influence can be seen in the films of Chris Marker (an assistant director on this film.) It'd be pointless to talk about the images in Night and Fog, as they are not the type of things to be communicated verbally, as the deft narration often points out. Without a doubt, this is essential viewing.
