"The Sorrow And The Pity" Is Released

The Sorrow and the Pity (French: Le Chagrin et la pitié) is a two-part documentary film by Marcel Ophüls that concerns the French Resistance and collaboration with the Vichy government and Nazi Germany during World War II. This 1969 film used interviews of a German officer, collaborators, and resistance fighters from Clermont-Ferrand. They comment on the nature and reasons for collaboration. The reasons include anti-Semitism, anglophobia, fear of Bolsheviks and Soviet invasion, the desire for power, and simple caution.

Through profound revelation and catharsis, the landmark documentary by Marcel Ophuls personalized the harrowing Nazi occupation of France, delving into the psyches of a few fascinating participants. In analyzing the web of collaborators, resistance fighters and apathetic onlookers, and how they haunted - and still haunt - a nation, Ophuls elevated the documentary to a higher art form through the force of his subject and storytelling. , The New York Times