Le Chagrin et la Pitié - Chronique d'une ville française sous l'Occupation - 1. L'Effondrement - 2. Le Choix

"Life in France at the time of the Nazi Occupation during World War II. Those who actively participated in the drama - politicians, soldiers, aristocrats, spies, collaborators and resistance supporters - recount their personal experiences with lucidity, eloquence and emotion.
By any standards, Le Chagrin et la Pitié is a monumental piece of film documentary. For one thing, it dares to make an objective assessment of one of the most difficult periods in France’s history – the German occupation of that country during World War II. In addition to being one of the most important documentaries ever made, it is also one of the most compelling and well made, despite its modest style.
The film combines shockingly frank interviews with players in the drama with archive footage (mainly newsreel excerpts). Although the film is nominally centred around the town of Clermont-Ferrand, it does go farther afield, venturing to Paris, rural France, Germany and London.
Through its very simple documentary style and a plethora of material (not a minute of the film’s four and half hours is wasted), Le Chagrin et la Pitié conveys a very real sense of what it must have been like to have lived through the Occupation. It is a profound, enlightening and thought-provoking piece of work. [...]"
(James Travers)