Film Review

I watched a short documentary called “Auschwitz” that was narrated by Meryl Streep.  I found it to be very intriguing.  One of the reviews I found on imdv’s website stated, “Solid addition to the subject that does not really offer anything new though.”  This review was from an anonymous source.  I found it to be an odd review of something that is so powerful.  It also seemed a little contradictory. I was confused why they said it was a solid addition but did not offer anything new.  There are a few guidelines I think of when I think of of a film review.  A film review should include the title of the documentary along with the director.  In some cases, high budget documentaries will have a well-known narrator to intrigue the audience; in which case, I feel they should also be mentioned.  Most times, a review will provide background of the documentary along with an opinion on whether or not the film was successful.  They usually provide what was working for them and what was not.  This means explaining that aspects of the documentary they liked and thought were helpful and on topic.  This also means  explaining parts of the documentary that they did not like and giving an explanation why.  In my case, I could only find one review for “Auschwitz” that I quoted above.  It was very short and did not make much sense to me.  I do not consider this a real critique of the short film because it does not incorporate the guidelines that I have explained.