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Linda AlkanaCalifornia State University, lalk[commat]csulb.edu
A Locomotion Films Release, 1998. www.jayrosenblattfilms.com
Human Remains is a creative film that allows Hitler, Mussolini, Franco, Stalin and Mao to speak for themselves, as they might on a confessional television talk show at the end of the 20th Century. In this thirty-minute film, writer/director Jay Rosenblatt
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combines home movies, newsreels, and photographs to create minibiographies, in the guise of autobiographies, These notorious figures are presented without introduction, historical context, or reference to their political ambition, place in history, or the lives lost in pursuit of their goals. Through his use of omission, skilled camera work, the juxtaposition of words with images, and a darkly comedic wit, Rosenblatt has created in Human Remains a powerful and provocative work.
Human Remains begins somberly with a view of disappearing railroad tracks, reminiscent of Shoah. Then we see Hitler playing with a child. We hear German in the background, then the translation. ''I was an artist,'' the film begins. At first the viewer isn't sure what is happening. Is the German voice in the background really Hitler's? Are these his words? Soon it becomes apparent--they may be Hitler's words--but Rosenblatt is creating his own version of history. Hitler, Mussolini, Franco, Stalin and Mao may have wanted to be remembered as ''great men of history,'' but Rosenblatt uses facts about their personal lives...