Sam Mendes's documentary 'What They Found' utilizes archival 35mm film from British Army photographers during the liberation of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, coupled with interviews from the cameramen recorded years later. The film immerses viewers in the historical context of WWII, shedding light on how the filmmakers perceived their role amidst the destruction of war. The film's stark portrayal reveals the profound impact of witnessing such horror through the lens of those who documented it, allowing for a haunting reflection on memory and history.
Lewis and Lawrie did not record sound when they visited Belsen; the words they spoke years later are the only sounds we hear.
I could not, like most English Jews, really believe this of England, he says. But the world began to assume a shape more real than those things we were taught about it.
First, laid over generic archive footage, we hear how they came to be army photographers, and we get a flavour of their prewar civilian life.
There they meet a handful of Belsen inmates who have already left the camp and are wandering, unwashed, thin and dazed, but apparently not significantly more damaged than other displaced civilians.
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