What if your family had a dark secret that no one ever talked about? How does a woman lose her mother to the holocaust and never tell her own children? How do you reconcile a Jewish ancestry with the knowledge that your grandparents were close friends with a high-ranking Nazi officer? How much more shocking is that revelation when you discover that your grandparents renewed that relationship after the war? These incredible questions are the reality what Arnon Goldfinger faced as he cleaned out his grandmother's flat after her death. The documentary is aptly called The Flat.
Goldfinger introduces viewers to his grandmother through her possessions. The film opens with Goldfinger and other family members going through his mother's possessions, which include an Imelda Marcos-like collection of gloves, mink stoles and a wall packed with German language books. The documentary takes an interesting turn when Goldfinger uncovers Nazi propaganda in the flat. This leads to an article that was written about his grandparents trip to Palestine with a Nazi SS Officer in the 1930s. Goldfinger interviews the Jewish author, who begins to shed light on the "double life" his grandparents seemed to have lived.
While trying to make sense of the information he is faced with, Goldfinger begins to question his own mother, who appears to have been kept in the dark about her own past. He interviews a surviving friend of his grandmother who was able to shed some light on the topic, but was completely unaware that his grandparents had remained in touch with the German Officer, von Mildenstein. It turns out that von Mildenstein was the mentor and recruiter of the infamous Nazi officer Eichmann.
Goldfinger intersperses his documentary with war footage to introduce viewers to events from before and after World War II to add perspective. This includes testimony from Eichmann on his relationship with von Mildenstein. This footage adds interesting context to the subject matter while making the relationship between his grandparents and the von Mildensteins that much more perplexing.
As Goldfinger digs deeper into his family history, he discovers letters between his mother and the von Mildensteins daughter, Edda. In order to better understand the relationship, Goldfinger travels to Germany to interview Edda, who is a gracious host. However, she has also painted a very different picture of her father than the one that Goldfinger initially presents. Edda's version of facts are reconciled by a trip to the archives, where Goldfinger is able to verify von Mildenstein's Nazi activity in his own words. Presented with this information, Edda is shaken, but seems genuinely surprised at the facts. Whether it is denial or having been sheltered as a child is unknown, but the tension between Arnon and Edda is apparent, but glossed over with an awkward friendliness.
Goldfinger attempts to understand his grandparents and their relationships through a series of interviews. But in the end, his quest is summarized in his attempt to find his grandmother's grave. The marker no longer exists. Goldfinger comes up empty, which is a seemingly appropriate parallel to his quest for understanding. He is attempting to understand something which cannot be explained. In the end, I felt a bit empty as well. I was hoping for some closure, but like Goldfinger, I was left wondering.
As documentaries go, The Flat has an interesting premise. The research included in the film seemed extensive, although I was left with more questions than I had going in. I guess that holds true for the documentarian, as well. Either way, I was interested in the subject matter enough to give the film a recommendation. I just felt a bit short-changed in the end. Overall, a decent documentary. 7/10.
