This is one of Frederic Rossif's (French actor and director) last films before his death in 1990. Of course, Rossif wanted the documentary to seriously reflect the emotion and drama of Nazi Germany (Third Reich) and World War II. The use of Vangelis' music achieved Rossif's goal very well. In 1988, this documentary aired in France and three years later, there was an English adaptation. I came across this one day on public television (I was studying WW2 in 7th grade history and knew that the score was done by Vangelis). After watching it (live and videotaped), I was stunned and felt so close to WW2, the Holocaust and the Third Reich. This music came with me to taunt me while visiting the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum at Washington, DC This was pretty powerful stuff.

(I'm using the American adaptation, which is divided into two parts. Each part in the video is 90 minutes long)

PART ONE: TRIUMPH AND WAR
The scene begins with footage of the Nuremberg Rally in 1935, the largest of its kind. You see images of people marching with signs, flags or pictures of the infamous swastika. The music playing sounds military (brass, percussion with a kind of evil Aryan sound to it). This set the mood for Nazi Germany when the documentary begins with the brief descriptions of the Nuremberg Rallies. Of course, you could respond with silent disgust, violent rage or a cheer. The moments were Vangelis really shines are very rare but there are moments. During scenes of the German invasions of Poland, Norway, the Netherlands, France, Yugoslavia, Greece and Russia, Vangelis unleashes powerful and dramatic music. The haunting images of war mixed with percussion and somewhat moody music gives the war some realism. Vangelis is a master of bringing to live the film picture. Another great moment was when he wrote the background music for Hitler's parade in Berlin after the signing of the French armistice in 1940. (When the documentary mentions the armistice signed by France in 1940 when started the German occupation of France, the background music is "Le Singe Bleu" from L'Apocalypse des Animaux, which is a short excerpt starting around 4:19 or so.) Another moment which Vangelis shines is when Pearl Harbor is attacked. Vangelis has an awareness of the American feeling of that day "that would live in infamy." Vangelis knew how to bring the flamed Pearl Harbor into an emotional stimuli. Vangelis also knows how to cover up boredom (when they talk about American productivity after they declare war in 1941) and intensity (during the North Africa campaign)

PART TWO: DEFEAT AND JUDGMENT
Vangelis parts begin when they mention the European resistance to the Nazis. I always think to myself, "Vangelis was born in 1943. What was going on during that time?" Vangelis can also make you cry when his music accompanies the description of the French resistance. Vangelis occasionally shines during the battle of Stalingrad. Probably a memorable part was when they showed a sniper ambushing German soldiers. The background music was a simple toiling bell (kind of like in the beginning of "Movement One" of Foros Timis Ston Greco). It was effective because it was like despair and death. Then, Vangelis takes over again when the horrifying images of the Warsaw Ghetto appears. Vangelis also appears during the Italian campaign and then shows up when describing, briefly, the deportations of Jews into concentration/death camps. Vangelis also shows up during war scenes. A repetitive melody shows up during the Normandy invasion (b.k.a. D-Day, 6 June 1944). The toiling bell appears briefly when a brief description of the liberation of Brussels and Liege. Vangelis also accompanies the descriptions of elaborate weapons of the Third Reich, namely the Me-262's and the V-1/V-2 rockets. He appears again during other battle scenes like the Battle of the Bulge, the Pacific Theater, the bombing of Dresden, the Allied invasion of Germany, the Soviet attack on Berlin, the kamikaze attacks, the bombing of Hiroshima and the destruction of Germany. Vangelis bring the images of the Holocaust alive. Vangelis shines when the pleads of the accused matched with the crimes they committed, the Warsaw Ghetto is shown, the massacres took place, the Kristallnacht, the infamous "medical experiments," and the horrifying death process. Vangelis' touching moment when there was a description of Peter Weiss' Investigation of Auschwitz with this quote:

Each secretary, each telegraph operator in whose hands passed the orders for deportations knew. Each man, occupied in the thousands of administrative positions involved in the Final Solution, knew. Each conductor, each worker whose job it was to load men and women on the trains knew. And each one in his place knew exactly what needed to be done for the functioning of the Reich.