Marcel Ophuls
Encyclopedia
Marcel Ophüls is a documentary film
maker and former actor.
He was born in Frankfurt
, Germany
, the son of the director Max Ophüls
. He became a naturalized citizen of the United States
in 1950.
, Marcel had a peripatetic childhood, which commentators have suggested facilitated his objective documentary accounts of the French national psyche. After education at Hollywood High
while his father worked for the studios during the 1940s, Marcel served with the US occupying forces in Japan. When the family returned to Paris in 1950 Marcel became an assistant to Julien Duvivier
and Anatole Litvak
, and worked on John Huston
’s Moulin Rouge (1952) and his father’s Lola Montès (1955). Through François Truffaut
, Ophüls got to direct an episode of the portmanteau film Love At Twenty (1962). There followed the commercial hit Banana Peel (1964), a detective film starring Jeanne Moreau
and Jean-Paul Belmondo
.
With a slump in box-office fortunes, Ophüls turned to television news reporting and a documentary on the Munich crisis of 1938: Munich (1967). He then embarked on his examination of France under Nazi occupation, The Sorrow And The Pity. Although he enjoyed making entertainments, Ophüls became identified as a documentarian, using a characteristically sober interview style to resolve disparate experiences into a persuasive argument. A Sense Of Loss (1972) looked at Northern Ireland, while The Memory Of Justice (1973) was an ambitious comparison of US policy in Vietnam and the atrocities of the Nazis. Disagreements with his French backers over interpretation led Ophüls to smuggle a print to New York where it was shown privately. Legal wrangles left him disappointed and financially broke and Ophüls turned to university lecturing.
In the mid-1970s, he began producing documentaries for CBS
and ABC
. His feature documentary Hotel Terminus: The Life And Times Of Klaus Barbie (1988) won an Academy Award, since then he has made a damning interview film with two senior East German Communists, November Days (1981) and a ruminative look at how journalists cover war, The Trouble We've Seen (1994).
Every year the IDFA (International Documentary Festival) in Amsterdam
screens an acclaimed filmmaker's 10 favorite films. In 2007, Iranian filmmaker Maziar Bahari
selected The Sorrow and the Pity for his top ten classics from the history of documentary.
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
maker and former actor.
He was born in Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, the son of the director Max Ophüls
Max Ophüls
Maximillian Oppenheimer — known as Max Ophüls — was an influential German-born film director who worked in Germany , France , the United States , and France again...
. He became a naturalized citizen of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in 1950.
Biography
The son of director Max OphülsMax Ophüls
Maximillian Oppenheimer — known as Max Ophüls — was an influential German-born film director who worked in Germany , France , the United States , and France again...
, Marcel had a peripatetic childhood, which commentators have suggested facilitated his objective documentary accounts of the French national psyche. After education at Hollywood High
Hollywood High
Hollywood High is a creative writing game released in 1996 by Theatrix Interactive. It is the sequel to Theatrix's Hollywood, which featured only animal cartoon characters. The game features a choice of 37 scenes and multiple human cartoon characters. Users input text and watch the characters read it...
while his father worked for the studios during the 1940s, Marcel served with the US occupying forces in Japan. When the family returned to Paris in 1950 Marcel became an assistant to Julien Duvivier
Julien Duvivier
Julien Duvivier was a French film director. He was prominent in French cinema in the years 1930-1960...
and Anatole Litvak
Anatole Litvak
Anatole Litvak was a Ukrainian-born filmmaker who wrote, directed, and produced films in a various countries and languages...
, and worked on John Huston
John Huston
John Marcellus Huston was an American film director, screenwriter and actor. He wrote most of the 37 feature films he directed, many of which are today considered classics: The Maltese Falcon , The Treasure of the Sierra Madre , Key Largo , The Asphalt Jungle , The African Queen , Moulin Rouge...
’s Moulin Rouge (1952) and his father’s Lola Montès (1955). Through François Truffaut
François Truffaut
François Roland Truffaut was an influential film critic and filmmaker and one of the founders of the French New Wave. In a film career lasting over a quarter of a century, he remains an icon of the French film industry. He was also a screenwriter, producer, and actor working on over twenty-five...
, Ophüls got to direct an episode of the portmanteau film Love At Twenty (1962). There followed the commercial hit Banana Peel (1964), a detective film starring Jeanne Moreau
Jeanne Moreau
Jeanne Moreau is a French actress, singer, screenwriter and director.She made her theatrical debut in 1947, and established herself as one of the leading actresses of the Comédie-Française...
and Jean-Paul Belmondo
Jean-Paul Belmondo
Jean-Paul Belmondo is a French actor initially associated with the New Wave of the 1960s.-Career:Born in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine, west of Paris, Belmondo did not perform well in school, but developed a passion for boxing and football."Did you box professionally very long?" "Not very long...
.
With a slump in box-office fortunes, Ophüls turned to television news reporting and a documentary on the Munich crisis of 1938: Munich (1967). He then embarked on his examination of France under Nazi occupation, The Sorrow And The Pity. Although he enjoyed making entertainments, Ophüls became identified as a documentarian, using a characteristically sober interview style to resolve disparate experiences into a persuasive argument. A Sense Of Loss (1972) looked at Northern Ireland, while The Memory Of Justice (1973) was an ambitious comparison of US policy in Vietnam and the atrocities of the Nazis. Disagreements with his French backers over interpretation led Ophüls to smuggle a print to New York where it was shown privately. Legal wrangles left him disappointed and financially broke and Ophüls turned to university lecturing.
In the mid-1970s, he began producing documentaries for CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
and ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
. His feature documentary Hotel Terminus: The Life And Times Of Klaus Barbie (1988) won an Academy Award, since then he has made a damning interview film with two senior East German Communists, November Days (1981) and a ruminative look at how journalists cover war, The Trouble We've Seen (1994).
Filmography
- Matisse, ou Le talent du Bonheur (1960) (short)
- Love at TwentyLove at TwentyLove at Twenty is a 1962 French-produced omnibus project of Pierre Roustang, consisting of five segments directed by five directors from five different countries...
(1962) - Banana Peel (1963)
- Fire at Will (1965)
- Munich or Peace in our Time (1967)
- The Harvest of My Lai (1970)
- The Sorrow and the Pity (Le Chagrin et la pitié)(1969) - This film marked a turning point in the French debate about the VichyVichyVichy is a commune in the department of Allier in Auvergne in central France. It belongs to the historic province of Bourbonnais.It is known as a spa and resort town and was the de facto capital of Vichy France during the World War II Nazi German occupation from 1940 to 1944.The town's inhabitants...
Regime. - A Sense of Loss (1972)
- The Memory of JusticeThe Memory of JusticeThe Memory of Justice is a 1976 documentary film directed by Marcel Ophüls. It explores the subject of atrocities committed in wartime and features Joan Baez, Karl Dönitz, Hermann Göring, Hans-Joachim Kulenkampff, Yehudi Menuhin, Albert Speer and Telford Taylor.The film was inspired by Telford...
(1973-6) On the Nuremberg TrialsNuremberg TrialsThe Nuremberg Trials were a series of military tribunals, held by the victorious Allied forces of World War II, most notable for the prosecution of prominent members of the political, military, and economic leadership of the defeated Nazi Germany.... - Egon Schiele Exzess und BestrafungEgon Schiele Exzess und BestrafungEgon Schiele Exzess und Bestrafung, also known as Egon Schiele Excess and Punishment and Egon Schiele, enfer et passion is a 1980 film based on the life of the Austrian artist Egon Schiele. It stars Mathieu Carriere as Schiele with Jane Birkin as his artist muse Wally and Christine Kaufman as his...
(1980) - Hôtel Terminus: The Life and Times of Klaus BarbieHôtel Terminus: The Life and Times of Klaus BarbieHôtel Terminus: The Life and Times of Klaus Barbie is a 1988 documentary film directed by Marcel Ophüls about the life of Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie...
(1989) - Winner of the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature - November Days (1992)
- Veillées d'armes (The Troubles We've Seen: A History of Journalism in Wartime) (1994)
Every year the IDFA (International Documentary Festival) in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
screens an acclaimed filmmaker's 10 favorite films. In 2007, Iranian filmmaker Maziar Bahari
Maziar Bahari
Maziar Bahari Maziar Bahari Maziar Bahari (مازیار بهاری, (born 1967) is an Iranian Canadian journalist, film maker and human rights activist. He was a reporter for Newsweek from 1998 to 2011...
selected The Sorrow and the Pity for his top ten classics from the history of documentary.
Literature
- The sorrow and the pity : a film by Marcel Ophüls, Introduction by Stanley Hoffmann. Filmscript translated by Mireille Johnston. Biographical and appendix material by Mireille Johnston, New York : Berkeley Publishing Corporation, 1975