The Sorrow and the Pity (1971)

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

The Sorrow and the Pity (1971) -- M. Ophuls

Marcel Ophuls provides little explicit commentary and lets his interviewees speak for themselves in this 4 hour oral history of one town (Clermont-Ferrand) in Occupied France during WWII.  Nevertheless, the story that unfolds is one of complicity with the invading Nazis and neighbor turning against neighbor -- hence, the title: both sorrow and pity are felt toward the French. As Anthony Eden (former British PM) comments, unless your country has been occupied by a foreign power, you are in no position to judge how people respond to this unfortunate situation. It is tragic in its humanity.  A better knowledge of French history might have increased the insights on offer to me, but my interest in social psychology made this a fascinating (if saddening) watch.