MovieChat Forums > Holocaust (1978) Discussion > A little question

A little question

posted 19 years ago by xxdeathsmelodyxx
21 replies | jump to latest

Wow. This is going to be weird. I'm 15, and recently saw this movie in my Intolerence and the Holocaust class..I fell in love with it-or rather- I fell in love with the character or Erik Dorf. I'm also an aspiring writer, and I'm writing an alternative universe story based on this movie. All the details aren't accurate. I titled it, Laura's Holocaust. Laura being Erik's daughter. I made it to where Erik didn't die, nor did he serve time or anything for his sentance, he didn't admit to anything. I won't tell you everything. I came on here, wondering if anyone would read it, and review it for me. I need to know if it's good enough to turn into my English class for a grade, and other things.
Please Email me at [email protected] if you would read it!

Thanks so much!!!
Kat ^.^

[–] 19 years ago

[deleted]

[–] xxdeathsmelodyxx 19 years ago

Its a good thing I didn't write it then, isn't it? Wah---school is boring.

-.-

[–] 19 years ago

[deleted]

[–] KevinnJulieann 19 years ago

I have no nazi sympathies what so ever---but I like Michael Moriaty-who played Dorf---he is such a great actor, and I think that is why the original poster liked him. He did do a very unforgettable job in this movie. I did feel a little bad for him, he was pushed by a very over bearing wife---she was the evil one too-----anyway. I have this movie on tape and have watched it many times along with many other holocaust movies:(

[–] 19 years ago

[deleted]

[–] KevinnJulieann 19 years ago

****It's been a long time since I've seen this, but I don't recall his wife being that overbearing and pushing him to the war crimes he committed******

My reply:
Okay, in the beginning of the movie, Dorf was having trouble finding a job and Marta, told him her cousin knew Heidrick and could get him a job, he said no, and then she replied that he didn't want to hurt her heart ( they had just come from DR. Weiss's office and she found out she had a heart murmer) So he went to see about the job. Then, when he was in uniform, Dorf said he did not want to wear the uniform out in public and Marta said he must, they would be respected and get the best cuts of meat. Also, When Dr. Weiss was desperate about his son Carl being sent to a camp and asked Dorf for help, Marta said he had better not help the doctor in fear of ruining their reputation. Also, there were letters that Marta had found about the killings and she proceeded to burn them, and Dorf said, my sweet Marta---I will have to continue this....there is a lot more I can write about on this topic about Dorf's wife pushing him. Oh, also, when Marta, was talking with Eichman, she said, and to think I had to bully him into joining---

(forgive my spelling)

[–] taylorje 16 years ago

In the book that the movie's based on, Marta Dorf was indeed very pushy toward Erik.

[–] xxdeathsmelodyxx 19 years ago

^^ Thank you. You sound exactly like me. Thanks so much for saying that on my part. So many people assume before asking. *sigh* Well, yeah. That's the last time I mention anything here. No offence to you.

-.-;;

[–] xxdeathsmelodyxx 19 years ago

Oh, and also...'bout that story. I did turn it in at school. Got a lot of extra credit for it, I think it was a grade of...4 100s? And I'm now more close to getting my writer's scholorship than ever. No one thinks I'm crazy, there at least. ^_^

[–] 19 years ago

[deleted]

[–] martinwillane 17 years ago

If its good enough why not try to publish it?

[–] ranjer764 19 years ago

I'm currently 41, and saw the mini-series in 1978 while on a road trip with my parents. The following year our History class covered the extermination of the Jews in detail ( for about 3 weeks ). I was fortunate to have seen the film the previous year, as I was able to retain much of the information that proved valuable during test time.
My father was a bomber pilot during WWII, and most of his missions were spent over Berlin. I'm grateful that his efforts helped to stop the atrocities that were carried out in Germany and other European countries. That particular film was the first one to open my eyes to who Hitler really was.
The film also introduced me to the talents of James Woods and Meryl Streep, two of my now-favorite actors. I haven't seen the film since its first showing, but would love to find a copy. I think it's a very important and well-done piece of work.

[–] Strausszek 18 years ago

I recall the Erik Dorf nazi character from a tv screening in the eighties; he seemed nasty of course but also pretty much a cliche (just like Falconetti in Rich Man, Poor Man is a cliche.

I'd say the first half is the strongest one, its depiction of how you acclimatize to a growing darkness was truly suggestive. Holocaust isn't really a tv masterpiece, It says little new about the war and the camps, but it was a landmark film in rousing young people to awareness of the horrors of this era.

[–] elizabethjlw 18 years ago

I think I'd have to disagree with you on that, simply for the reason that nothing has been done quite like it- not even Schindlers List can compare. Its a real epic that has NOT been rivalled.

Ben Stone: "There's a long road between coherence and competence."

[–] alomba1328 18 years ago

Didn't anybody get it that Dorf is the "MacBeth" character and his wife is the "Lady MacBeth"? He is the classic tragic hero, descending into evil and murder as a result of uncontrollable and destructive ambition, helped along, of course, by his even more evil and ambitious wife. They could do a whole movie just about him and his great fall.

[–] elizabethjlw 18 years ago

I totally agree. She was an utter cow-bag. The only reason he took that job was because she wanted him to do something better.

Ben Stone: "There's a long road between coherence and competence."

[–] exviuda2003 18 years ago

And also because of her illness. Martha had a heart condition. It was the reson Dr. Weiss treated her. Dorf wanted her to have a better life so he went into the SS. In the novel, he mentions in his diary that their love life was rather boring, but after he became succesful it got better.
He is a fantastic character, because you can identify with him and realize why a good person could get involved in something evil

[–] 18 years ago

[deleted]

[–] taylorje 17 years ago

In the novel, after the fall of Germany, Dorf makes one last diary entry. He is in hiding but knows he will likely be captured. He writes about his love for Marta and the children but admits that he and Marta had not slept together for some time. There is also mention made of a missing section of Dorf's diary that covers the first three years after he joins the Nazis. Obviously that is when all humaness was drilled out of him and he agreed with their beliefs that Jews must be exerminated. In the end he was a coward however, committing suicide by means of a cyanide capsule he'd smuggled into prison.

[–] unruhe-3 18 years ago

I'd hardly describe Dorf as a "classic tragic hero," which implies nobility as well as hubris. It's been a long time since I've seen the series, but Dorf struck me as a potentially good but weak man, the fictional incarnation of Hannah Arendt's banality of evil. I remember being tremendously impressed with Michael Moriarty's ability to portray Dorf as a complex character rather than the programmed marionette that often characterizes the movie Nazi. Caricaturing the Nazis may be psychologically comforting, but it will hardly help us to understand how apparently ordinary people can transform themselves into mass murderers.

[–] 18 years ago

[deleted]