The Sorrow and the Pity

The Sorrow and the Pity

259 mins | Documentary, War, History | April 14, 1971

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.

The Sorrow and the Pity

259 mins | Documentary, War, History | April 14, 1971

The Sorrow and the Pity
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.
IMDb rating 8.1
Producers NDR, SRG SSR, Télévision Rencontre
Original title Das Haus nebenan − Chronik einer französischen Stadt im Kriege
Directors Marcel Ophüls
Writers André Harris, Marcel Ophüls

Cast

Georges Bidault

as Himself

Jacques Duclos

as Himself

Anthony Eden

as (also archive footage) (as Lord Avon)

Pierre Mendès France

as Himself - Former Prime Minister of France

Emmanuel d'Astier de La Vigerie

as Himself - Founder of the Liberation Movement

Maurice Chevalier

as Himself

Marcel Ophüls

as Himself - Interviewer

André Harris

as Himself - Interviewer