The Sorrow and the Pity (1969) Part 1 Collapse
Divided into two parts - The Collapse and The Choice - Marcel Ophuls's monumental documentary is not just an investigation into what occurred in France during the Nazi Occupation, but how the nation has elected to remember it. Probing the selective memory of his occasionally evasive witnesses (who range from heroes and survivors to traitors and oppressors), he uncovers contradictions among the half-truths, as well as provoking outbursts of bitter fury and expressions of genuine remorse, as topics such as collaboration and co-operation, resistance and indifference are painfully explored. The archive material may be manipulative, but it retains the power to chill and cast doubt (Radio Times 5-star review).
Part 1: Collapse
Focuses on the period after the fall of France in 1940 and the activities of the collaborationist Petain regime. Includes an extended interview with Pierre Mendès-France, who was jailed by the Vichy government on charges of desertion, but escaped from jail to join Charles de Gaulle's Free French forces in England. He later served as Prime Minister of post-war France.
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