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SORROW
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troops — planted roses at the front.
Without making an explicit com-
ment on the story — he neither con-
demns nor condones — the filmmaker
conveys to us how ludicrous, how insuf-
ficient, how misguided, how empty, and
yet, how potentially beautiful this action
was. It is a story that allows for a pro-
found paradigm of "either/or" to work
on us as we watched, stunned.
One of the first interviewees sits with
his family. This is Marcel Verdier, the
pharmacist of Clermont-Ferrand.
Sitting on his right is, presumably, a son
and a daughter. Throughout the inter-
view, the girl looks distracted, uninter-
ested — even bored. We watch as the
camera follows her moves: She looks
vacantly into her cup. She absently plays
with her hair. Dull, disinterested, list-
less, she is silent as her father describes
his memories of the occupation. Even as
we are listening to the stories told by
the pharmacist, we become fascinated
with her level of apathy.
She is only on-screen for a few sec-
onds. However, her image underscores
the thematic thrust of the first part of
the documentary: the collapse of France
due to a collective lack of response.
The Sorrow and the Pity is unfail-
ingly unsettling. But it is not a simple
indictment of apathy. As with any film
dealing with a historical period, The
Sorrow and the Pity tells us as much
about the era in which it was made as
it does about the era it treats.
When watching the documentary,
the political concerns of the late '60s
emerge conspicuously throughout the
film, reminding us that the issues raised
are not exclusively those of a anom-
alous historical moment. They are the
universal concerns of people at war.
With expert cross-cuts from person
to person, and with startling newsreel
footage, the film is a like a collage of
information. The brilliance of Ophuls'
direction is that he forces us to make
connections, to recognize themes and
to evaluate our own responses more
honestly than is comfortable.
It is a challenging film in the truest
sense of the word. ❑
x:x x:x 0 # (out of four stars)
The Sorrow and the Pity will be
screened 7 p.m. Friday, 1 and 7
p.m. Saturday and 1 and 7 p.m.
Sunday, Sept. 8 10, at the Detroit
Film Theatre at the Detroit
Institute of Arts. Box office opens
one hour before first perform-
ance. $61S5 seniors, students and
DIA members. (313) 833-3237.
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