THE Israeli documentary “Stalags,” by Ari Libsker, should be subtitled, “How To Turn a Sexy Subject Into a Boring Film.”
The stalags of the title are lurid pulp novels in which female SS officers torture and sexually abuse captured American and British pilots.
No, the busty blondes with boots and whips aren’t after top secrets. They’re just getting their sexual kicks.
Of course, the men get even, raping and beating their captors. (Never mind that there were no women in the SS.)
The books, with titles such as “I Was Colonel Schultz’s Private Bitch,” were big sellers, written by Israelis with cover art stolen from American magazines.
For some reason, their popularity coincided with the Adolf Eichmann war-crimes trial in the 1960s, an issue never fully explored.
“Stalags” perks up when Libsker turns his camera on the brightly colored book covers, but for the most part his movie consists of dry and academic commentary by talking heads.