KZ, February 25

The Austrian village of Mauthausen draws tourists not for its idyllic Danube setting or postcard views, but for its notorious Nazi-era "Grade III" prison camp. Rex Bloomstein's exploration of everyday life under the shadow of the former konzentrationslager—or KZ—reveals a community still scarred by a history it must confront anew with each busload of visitors. Costumed performers entertain tourists with folk tunes in an old SS tavern, and newcomers live contentedly in officers' quarters, hoping "nothing bad happened" within. Devoid of archival footage and relying on the tour guides themselves for narration, the film's novel approach to the subject horrifies by showing how casually the monstrous and the mundane can coexist. Bloomstein deals even-handedly with the alcoholism, dark humor, and compartmentalization used by the Mauthauseners to cope with the fact that over 100,000 people were tortured and killed in their bucolic village—and with the knowledge that it could happen again.

—Archer Neilson

• Photographed by Bloomstein. (88 mins, In German and English with English subtitles, Color, Beta SP)