Sorrow and the Pity (1969) France, Switzerland, West Germany
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Director:Marcel Ophüls
Studio:Télévision Rencontre
Writer:André Harris, Marcel Ophüls
Rating:8.4 (2,824 votes)
Rated:PG
Date Added:2017-02-20
Awards:Nominated for 1 Oscar, Another 6 wins & 1 nomination
Genre:Documentary, History, War
Release:1972-03-25
IMDb:0066904
Duration:251
Aspect Ratio:1.37 : 1
Sound:Mono
LAC code:300011004
DVD or VHS:DVD
Original:original
Marcel Ophüls  ...  (Director)
André Harris, Marcel Ophüls  ...  (Writer)
 
Georges Bidault  ...  Himself
Matthäus Bleibinger  ...  Himself - Wehrmacht Soldier in the Auvergne (as Mathaus Bleibinger)
Charles Braun  ...  
Maurice Buckmaster  ...  Himself - Former Head of the British Underground
Emile Coulaudon  ...  Himself - Former Head of the Auvergne Maquis
Emmanuel d'Astier de la Vigerie  ...  Himself - Founder of the Liberation Movement
René de Chambrun  ...  Himself - International Lawyer (as Count René de Chambrun)
Christian de la Mazière  ...  Himself - Aristocratic Former Nazi
Darquier de Pellepoix  ...  Himself - Handshake with Heydrich (archive footage)
Jacques Doriot  ...  Himself - Head of the French Popular Party, 1942 (archive footage)
R. Du Jonchay  ...  Himself - Head of the Resistance Movement (as Colonel R. du Jonchay)
Jacques Duclos  ...  Himself - Former Secretary of the Clandestine Communist Party
Anthony Eden  ...  (as Lord Avon)
Sgt. Evans  ...  
Marcel Fouche-Degliame  ...  Himself - Director of the Combat Movement (as Marcel Degliame-Fouche)
Summary: From 1940 to 1944, France's Vichy government collaborated with Nazi Germany. Marcel Ophüls mixes archival footage with 1969 interviews of a German officer and of collaborators and resistance fighters from Clermont-Ferrand. They comment on the nature, details and reasons for the collaboration, from anti-Semitism, xenophobia, and fear of Bolsheviks, to simple caution. Part one, "The Collapse," includes an extended interview with Pierre Mendès-France, jailed for anti-Vichy action and later France's Prime Minister. At the heart of part two, "The Choice," is an interview with Christian de la Mazière, one of 7,000 French youth to fight on the eastern front wearing German uniforms.