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No. 32: The Sorrow and the Pity

Ordinary life under extraordinary circumstances

by
Liel Leibovitz
December 07, 2011

1969, dir. Marcel Ophüls. Most people know it as a Woody Allen punchline, but Marcel Ophüls’ two-part documentary is far from the uber-depressing movie it was meant to be. Bravely debunking the self-serving myth—popular at the time of the film’s 1969 release—that all Frenchmen resisted the Nazis, Ophüls shows the same distant courtesy to heroes and scoundrels alike. The result is a deeply touching account of ordinary life under extraordinary circumstances.

Liel Leibovitz is editor-at-large for Tablet Magazine and a host of its weekly culture podcast Unorthodox and daily Talmud podcast Take One. He is the editor of Zionism: The Tablet Guide.