Sindre Kaspersen German-born American documentary filmmaker Marcel Ophüls' fourth documentary feature which he wrote and produced, was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 41st Cannes International Film Festival in 1988 and is a France-USA co-production. It tells the story about 44 children from a Jewish orphanage in Izieu, France and the collaborators, friends, enemies, supporters, accomplices and victims of a husband and father of two who began his long-lasting career as a Nazi during the early 1930s in Germany and the acts he committed by himself and was helped to commit against humanity.This somewhat biographical, historic, political and comprehensive post-war Germany story which is narrated from multiple viewpoints, in an objective way and through the voices of survivors of torture, former leaders of the former French Resistance, former members of the former Counter Intelligence Corps in the United States, former activists, attorneys, journalists and people who experienced WWII and it's aftermath, is an informative and incisive examination of French and German history, war crimes, the displacement of guilt and an investigative journey through the places where the main character grew up, studied, took up residence and carried out clandestine operations.This multilingual, conversational and important non-fictional feature is impelled and reinforced by it's interrelated stories, the absence of visual effects, of the subject himself, the director's presence, his way of conducting interviews and the presence of the interviewees who as much as the filmmakers are the creators of this documentary. An unsettling, heartrending, revealing and disenchanting documentary feature from the late 1980s which gained, among other awards, the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature at the 61st Academy Awards in 1989 and the FIPRESCI Prize at the 41st Cannes Film Festival in 1988.

david-4772 This is a fascinating insight into how senior Nazis eluded capture after the war by colluding with the intelligence services of their victors.In particular it gives an explanation of how Klaus Barbie ('The Butcher of Lyons') operated before and after the war by his ability to manipulate people. I totally disagree with the last reviewers comments. He alludes to the director badgering old Nazis who obviously 'feel guilty'. These Gestapo chiefs put children on trains to their death and walk free, why shouldn't they be persecuted. I thought it was interesting to put faces to them anyway.Personally I didn't think it was heavy handed and there was a great array of high profile interviewees from Resistance leaders to senior Nazi officers and families who suffered under Barbie.Great documentary.

turing77 Marcel Ophuls is an obnoxious jackass (think of a European Michael Moore), and he is overly obtrusive in this film, but it is a must-see nonetheless. We all know what Barbie did, but the role of the US government in shielding him from French authorities after the war is not so commonly known. This film leaves no stone unturned, and the bittersweet conclusion--Barbie finally was imprisoned, but only for four years, and after he had already lived free and wealthy for forty years--is sobering.

matt-81 The film is very good but sags in the third hour. However, you must stay with it. Take a break, have some coffee, and come back. I saw this film a good five years ago, but the final few sentences were so moving I remember them still, word for word. It must be seen. We're talking hot tears and goosebumps.