Human Remains

Confrontational short documentary in which ‘evil’ is banalised in five portraits of five illustrious dictators: Hitler, Mussolini, Franco, Stalin and Mao. They were made by using stock footage that offers a view of the day-to-day life of these men and a composed voice-over that gives an account of their peculiarities, favourite meals, love for pets and aversion to noise. Not a single fragment shows the role they played in history. The knowledge that they were responsible for genocide, wars and sadistic atrocities looms over the film like a shadow. Since the early eighties Jay Rosenblatt has been making controversial and ingenious documentaries about social and historical subjects (including Short of Breath from 1990 and The Smell of Burning Ants from 1994). Point of departure for his films seems to be the desire to confront the audience with their preconceptions and thereby stimulate them to change their look on things. For many years Rosenblatt has been active as a psychotherapist and is currently teaching at various American film schools, including the San Francisco State University and the San Francisco Art Institute.