This one needed a post of it's own because it's
It's based on a novel I originally believed was considered controversial because of the content but apparently also because the writer falsely claimed it was autobiographical before its release and rumors of plagiarism. Regardless, it is also controversial because of its content which involves a young Jewish boy wandering through Eastern europe during WWII and encountering every possible form of malevolence, deviance, violence and depravity as he is abused by nearly everyone he encounters, also in every possible form. At a running time of over two and a half hours it's a brutal visual of the inhumanity of WWII far beyond what just the Nazis did. Shot in stark black & white this could almost be mistaken for a forgotten classic from the 60s if it weren't for the fact that occasionally some familiar faces pop up. And sure, while seeing Udo Kier and Stellan Skarsgard in an European production makes sense the appearances of Harvey Keitel and Barry Pepper took me a bit out of the film. Still, the film is intense and brutal and plain brilliant in its nihilism. Masterpiece.