In documentary filmmaking, one of the greatest sins is that of hagiography, whereby the subject is deified. Sometimes though, it’s more than acceptable. Such is the case with director Richard Trank’s deeply moving and utterly heartfelt doco I Have Never Forgotten You: The Life & Legacy Of Simon Wiesenthal. Wiesenthal is a great Jewish hero (though he’s not without his critics), and if he were a Christian he would probably qualify for sainthood.
Surprise choice narrator Nicole Kidman connects archival footage, interviews, photographs and historical records to tell the harrowing but ultimately uplifting story of Simon Wiesenthal, an Austrian Jew who suffered the horrors of the Holocaust only to come out the other side with his dignity, humanity and sense of justice wholly intact. After WW2, Wiesenthal dedicated his life to tracking down Nazi war criminals who had escaped the Allies, and was credited with roping in the likes of Adolf Eichmann, Karl Silberbauer (the Gestapo officer responsible for the arrest of Anne Frank) and Franz Stangl (the commandant of the Treblinka and Sobibor death camps). Wiesenthal, however, was no fiery vigilante, and was plainly driven by justice and not revenge.
In terms of structure and style, I Have Never Forgotten You is a straight-up affair that offers no new creases in the documentary format. But Wiesenthal’s story is so touching and entertaining (he provided much of the inspiration for Frederick Forsyth’s hit novel The Odessa File, and was even written in as a character; he was also a friend of Frank Sinatra’s and was played by Ben Kingsley in a biopic) that it doesn’t require any cinematic fireworks.
Gripping, highly emotional and packed with enough intrigue and incident to fill at least ten feature films, I Have Never Forgotten You is a stunning portrait of a man to whom the often over-used term 'hero" can truly and legitimately be applied.
Filmink 4/5
