★★★½ The Sorrow and the Pity

[Twinkletoes: 3.5]

Twinkletoes says: 'This is the 4+ hour documentary that was prominently featured as a running joke in Annie Hall. It is about France during the WWII occupation and the choices made by many to join the resistance or to collaborate with the Germans. For the most part the film is a series of interviews with people who actually had to make these choices. We learn about why they did what they did and the consequences of their decisions. Many of these stories are heartbreaking and they are all very fascinating, particularly the interviews with those who aided the Germans. What I didn't like about the film was that I often found it confusing. I had no knowledge of this topic and the film does nothing to get you up to speed. Part of that is a failing on my part but the film does you no favors as it jumps right into these interviews. Also, I often had no idea who these people were. Now for the hotel owner who was forced to house German soldiers that is not really a problem. But after seeing the film I did a little research and discovered that some of these people were prominent politicians (including a British Prime Minister), others were very significant members of the French Resistance, and others prominent German military officers. A little information would have helped shed a little light on these stories. Of course the film was made 40 years ago for French television so my guess is that my issues were of very little concern back then. In the end I am left with a very good documentary that could have been great in my eyes had they catered to my needs a little bit, or at the very least included a couple of special features on the DVD. The film left me wanting more and I feel as though a great humongous book/mini-series/long narrative film could be made out of the subject.'