Latest news with #Ophuls'
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Marcel Ophuls, L.A.-raised documentarian and Oscar winner, dies
Renowned documentary filmmaker Marcel Ophuls, who, along with his family, fled Nazi Germany as a child and spent his formative years in Los Angeles before having a cinematic career which earned him both an Oscar as well as condemnation from some quarters, died Saturday in France, his adopted country. He was 97. Ophuls' death, first reported by news agencies, was confirmed by family members. He is survived by his wife, Regine, their three daughters and three grandchildren. The director's 1969 masterpiece, 'The Sorrow and the Pity,' an intense, four-hour work that made Ophuls' reputation, began as a project for a government-owned French broadcast network. Ultimately, though, it was banned and did not air on television until many years later, due to its searing indictment (or 'explosion,' as Ophuls preferred to called it) of the myth of France's heroic participation in the war — a false if popular version of events that ignored Vichy collaboration with the German occupiers. Born in Frankfurt in 1927, Ophuls was the son of film director Max Ophüls (his father later dropped the umlaut) and Hildegard Wall, a theater actor. When the Nazis came to power in 1933, the Ophuls clan left Germany for Paris. Then, when France fell, they settled in Los Angeles in November 1941, where Max Ophuls would come to enjoy a significant moviemaking career ("Letter from an Unknown Woman"). For young Marcel — German Jewish, a citizen of both France and the United States and fluent in three languages —the ethos and landscape of Southern California posed a very different and sometimes alienating experience. After graduating from Hollywood High, he was drafted by the U.S. Army and later enrolled at Occidental College in Eagle Rock, but still found assimilation difficult, revealing to writer Studs Terkel in a 1981 interview that, even as a refugee, he was shocked by the prejudice he observed toward people of color in the divided communities of Los Angeles following Pearl Harbor. 'When I made movies,' he said, 'one of the things that kept me from being too self-righteous is my memory of the Japanese kids who were in my class one day, then gone the next.' While his father Max struggled at first to find work in Hollywood, Marcel felt destined, as he often said, for a career in the film industry. As he revealed in his 2013 documentary memoir 'Ain't Misbehavin,' he began his career as an actor, playing, ironically, a member of the Hitler Youth in Frank Capra's 1942 War Department film 'Prelude to War.' Ultimately following his father to France in 1950, Ophuls turned to making nonfiction films for French television, after trying his hand in narrative cinema. 'My second film flopped, but it was a very bad film that deserved to flop,' he said frankly, speaking about his career in London in 2004. His self-deprecating brand of humor, tinged with a touch of irony, was often apparent in the interviews he conducted for many of his films, confronting former Nazis and collaborators. Alternately, his tone was infused with contempt, sarcasm or genuine sympathy for his subjects who had been victims of brutality unleashed by the Gestapo or secret police of the Vichy regime. Ophuls won the Academy Award for documentary feature in 1989 for 'Hotel Terminus: The Life and Times of Klaus Barbie,' which depicted the crimes of the head of the Gestapo in Lyon who, after the war, escaped French prosecutors with the help of U.S. Army intelligence, evading justice and living in South America until he was extradited to France from Bolivia in 1983. Barbie died in prison in 1991. Ophuls was also known for other documentaries, including 1976's 'The Memory of Justice,' about the legacy of the Nuremberg trials, and 1972's 'A Sense of Loss,' which dealt with the troubles of Northern Ireland. About his famous confidence when seated face-to-face with intimidating subjects — one interview was with Albert Speer, Hitler's chief architect and minister of armaments — Ophuls was characteristically candid and self-effacing. "He was so fantastically cooperative," he said of Speer. "He even offered to show me his home movies. It just seemed to me to be part of my job." Sign up for Indie Focus, a weekly newsletter about movies and what's going on in the wild world of cinema. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles Times
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Marcel Ophuls, L.A.-raised documentarian and Oscar winner, dies
Renowned documentary filmmaker Marcel Ophuls, who, along with his family, fled Nazi Germany as a child and spent his formative years in Los Angeles before having a cinematic career which earned him both an Oscar as well as condemnation from some quarters, died Saturday in France, his adopted country. He was 97. Ophuls' death, first reported by news agencies, was confirmed by family members. He is survived by his wife, Regine, their three daughters and three grandchildren. The director's 1969 masterpiece, 'The Sorrow and the Pity,' an intense, four-hour work that made Ophuls' reputation, began as a project for a government-owned French broadcast network. Ultimately, though, it was banned and did not air on television until many years later, due to its searing indictment (or 'explosion,' as Ophuls preferred to called it) of the myth of France's heroic participation in the war — a false if popular version of events that ignored Vichy collaboration with the German occupiers. Born in Frankfurt in 1927, Ophuls was the son of film director Max Ophüls (his father later dropped the umlaut) and Hildegard Wall, a theater actor. When the Nazis came to power in 1933, the Ophuls clan left Germany for Paris. Then, when France fell, they settled in Los Angeles in November 1941, where Max Ophuls would come to enjoy a significant moviemaking career ('Letter from an Unknown Woman'). For young Marcel — German Jewish, a citizen of both France and the United States and fluent in three languages —the ethos and landscape of Southern California posed a very different and sometimes alienating experience. After graduating from Hollywood High, he was drafted by the U.S. Army and later enrolled at Occidental College in Eagle Rock, but still found assimilation difficult, revealing to writer Studs Terkel in a 1981 interview that, even as a refugee, he was shocked by the prejudice he observed toward people of color in the divided communities of Los Angeles following Pearl Harbor. 'When I made movies,' he said, 'one of the things that kept me from being too self-righteous is my memory of the Japanese kids who were in my class one day, then gone the next.' While his father Max struggled at first to find work in Hollywood, Marcel felt destined, as he often said, for a career in the film industry. As he revealed in his 2013 documentary memoir 'Ain't Misbehavin,' he began his career as an actor, playing, ironically, a member of the Hitler Youth in Frank Capra's 1942 War Department film 'Prelude to War.' Ultimately following his father to France in 1950, Ophuls turned to making nonfiction films for French television, after trying his hand in narrative cinema. 'My second film flopped, but it was a very bad film that deserved to flop,' he said frankly, speaking about his career in London in 2004. His self-deprecating brand of humor, tinged with a touch of irony, was often apparent in the interviews he conducted for many of his films, confronting former Nazis and collaborators. Alternately, his tone was infused with contempt, sarcasm or genuine sympathy for his subjects who had been victims of brutality unleashed by the Gestapo or secret police of the Vichy regime. Ophuls won the Academy Award for documentary feature in 1989 for 'Hotel Terminus: The Life and Times of Klaus Barbie,' which depicted the crimes of the head of the Gestapo in Lyon who, after the war, escaped French prosecutors with the help of U.S. Army intelligence, evading justice and living in South America until he was extradited to France from Bolivia in 1983. Barbie died in prison in 1991. Ophuls was also known for other documentaries, including 1976's 'The Memory of Justice,' about the legacy of the Nuremberg trials, and 1972's 'A Sense of Loss,' which dealt with the troubles of Northern Ireland. About his famous confidence when seated face-to-face with intimidating subjects — one interview was with Albert Speer, Hitler's chief architect and minister of armaments — Ophuls was characteristically candid and self-effacing. 'He was so fantastically cooperative,' he said of Speer. 'He even offered to show me his home movies. It just seemed to me to be part of my job.'
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Marcel Ophuls Dies: ‘The Sorrow And The Pity' Filmmaker Was 97
Marcel Ophuls, the director of the seminal 1969 documentary The Sorrow and the Pity that explored the collaboration between the Vichy government and Nazi Germany during World War II, died at his home in in France over the weekend. He was 97. His death was reported to The New York Times by his grandson Andreas-Benjamin Seyfert, who declined to provide further details. More from Deadline Sacha Jenkins Dies: Journalist Behind Wu-Tang Clan, 50 Cent & Louis Armstrong Docs Was 53 Mara Corday Dies: 'Tarantula' Cult Film Star & 'Playboy' Playmate Was 95 Jeff Margolis Dies: Prolific Emmy-Winning Director & Producer Of Awards Shows And Specials Was 78 Born on November 1, 1927, in Frankfurt, Germany – his father was film director Max Ophüls and his mother was actress Hildegard Wall, Ophuls was 11 when he and his parents fled France after the country was invaded by the Nazis. The family settled in Hollywood but returned to France in 1950. Back in France, Ophuls found work in the city's film industry, including assisting his director father, and on John Huston's Moulin Rouge (1952). Other credits during the '60s include the hit comedy-detective film Banana Peel (1964) starring Jean-Paul Belmondo and Jeanne Moreau. In 1967, Ophuls began work on the two-part four-hour-plus film that would become his signature endeavor. The Sorrow and the Pity was intended for television but the film was banned from airwaves after conservative politicians criticized the film for its depiction of France's Vichy regime collaborating with Hitler's Nazi regime. Released to theaters as a feature film in 1969, the film upturned France's then-accepted self-image as overwhelmingly resistance. Among his post-Sorrow credits, Ophuls directed the Oscar-winning 1988 documentarey Hôtel Terminus: The Life and Times of Klaus Barbie. The film opened to acclaim, but would not replace The Sorrow and the Pity as Ophuls' signature work. In 1977 Woody Allen paid tribute to the film with a classic comedy scene in Annie Hall: It was while in line to see Ophuls' film that Allen's character shames a loud-mouth know-nothing by presenting Marshall McLuhan to correct the man's speechifying. According to The Guardian, Ophuls, at the time of his death, was working on a documentary about Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories. Complete information on survivors was not immediately available. Best of Deadline 'Poker Face' Season 2 Guest Stars: From Katie Holmes To Simon Hellberg Everything We Know About Amazon's 'Verity' Movie So Far Everything We Know About 'The Testaments,' Sequel Series To 'The Handmaid's Tale' So Far
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Marcel Ophuls, Oscar-winning director of 'The Sorrow and the Pity', dies aged 97
Marcel Ophuls, the acclaimed French-German documentary filmmaker whose probing explorations of history and memory helped shaped the genre for decades, has died at the age of 97. His grandson, Andreas-Benjamin Seyfert, confirmed that he "died peacefully" on Saturday. Ophuls' life and career focus was shaped enormously by his own experience of war and exile. Born in Frankfurt in 1927 to German-Jewish parents - actor Hilde Wall and celebrated director Max Ophuls - he was just six years old when the family were forced to flee due to the rise of the Nazi regime in 1933. They found temporary refuge in France, only to be forced away again in 1940 as German forces advanced across Europe. They escaped across the Pyrenees into Spain, and eventually reached the United States in December 1941. After finishing college in Los Angeles, Ophuls served in a U.S. Army theatrical unit in occupied Japan in 1946. In 1950, he returned to France and began his film career as an assistant to renowned directors Julien Duvivier and Anatole Litvak. After early forays into fiction, including the 1964 comedy-thriller hit Banana Peel starring Jeanne Moreau and Jean-Paul Belmondo, Ophuls turned to documentaries. Ophuls' most renowned work, The Sorrow and the Pity (1969), was a groundbreaking documentary that questioned France's postwar narrative of noble resistance. Across four hours, the film focuses on the town of Clermont-Ferrand and pulls together a collection of interviews with Resistance fighters, collaborators, Nazi officers, and seemingly ordinary citizens to expose an uneasy truth: that complicity with the occupiers had permeated every level of French society, from local hairdressers to aristocrats. The blow to national self-image was so profound that French television banned the documentary for more than a decade, refusing to air it until 1981. While making pioneering waves in historical documentary circles, the film also left its mark on pop culture. In Annie Hall, Woody Allen famously uses the film as an unlikely first-date movie. Ophuls continued to tackle the shadows of the 20th century. In 1988, he won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for Hotel Terminus: The Life and Times of Klaus Barbie, a chilling investigation into the Nazi war criminal known as the "Butcher of Lyon." In later years, he remained outspoken on political issues, turning his attention to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In 2014, he began crowdfunding Unpleasant Truths, a documentary co-directed with Israeli filmmaker Eyal Sivan that sought to explore the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories and the rise of antisemitism and Islamophobia in Europe. Initially conceived as a collaboration with French New Wave pioneer Jean-Luc Godard - who later withdrew but appears briefly in the film - the project was ultimately stalled by financial and legal complications and remains unfinished.
Euronews
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Euronews
Marcel Ophuls, director of 'The Sorrow and the Pity', dies aged 97
Marcel Ophuls, the acclaimed French-German documentary filmmaker whose probing explorations of history and memory helped shaped the genre for decades, has died at the age of 97. His grandson, Andreas-Benjamin Seyfert, confirmed that he "died peacefully" on Saturday. Ophuls' life and career focus was shaped enormously by his own experience of war and exile. Born in Frankfurt in 1927 to German-Jewish parents - actor Hilde Wall and celebrated director Max Ophuls - he was just six years old when the family were forced to flee due to the rise of the Nazi regime in 1933. They found temporary refuge in France, only to be forced away again in 1940 as German forces advanced across Europe. They escaped across the Pyrenees into Spain, and eventually reached the United States in December 1941. After finishing college in Los Angeles, Ophuls served in a U.S. Army theatrical unit in occupied Japan in 1946. In 1950, he returned to France and began his film career as an assistant to renowned directors Julien Duvivier and Anatole Litvak. After early forays into fiction, including the 1964 comedy-thriller hit Banana Peel starring Jeanne Moreau and Jean-Paul Belmondo, Ophuls turned to documentaries. Ophuls' most renowned work, The Sorrow and the Pity (1969), was a groundbreaking documentary that questioned France's postwar narrative of noble resistance. Across four hours, the film focuses on the town of Clermont-Ferrand and pulls together a collection of interviews with Resistance fighters, collaborators, Nazi officers, and seemingly ordinary citizens to expose an uneasy truth: that complicity with the occupiers had permeated every level of French society, from local hairdressers to aristocrats. The blow to national self-image was so profound that French television banned the documentary for more than a decade, refusing to air it until 1981. While making pioneering waves in historical documentary circles, the film also left its mark on pop culture. In Annie Hall, Woody Allen famously uses the film as an unlikely first-date movie. Ophuls continued to tackle the shadows of the 20th century. In 1988, he won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for Hotel Terminus: The Life and Times of Klaus Barbie, a chilling investigation into the Nazi war criminal known as the "Butcher of Lyon." In later years, he remained outspoken on political issues, turning his attention to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In 2014, he began crowdfunding Unpleasant Truths, a documentary co-directed with Israeli filmmaker Eyal Sivan that sought to explore the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories and the rise of antisemitism and Islamophobia in Europe. Initially conceived as a collaboration with French New Wave pioneer Jean-Luc Godard - who later withdrew but appears briefly in the film - the project was ultimately stalled by financial and legal complications and remains unfinished. Anything you can think of, we bet it has a day dedicated to it. For example, today is —checks notes — National Blueberry Cheesecake Day and World Dracula Day. Indeed, most are dubious in origin and officialdom — but admittedly quite handy if you've been looking for an excuse to eat cheesecake in a cape. They're also a good excuse to share some themed suggestions, and although World Goth Day and International Museum Day have now passed, angsty art and zany curations live on forever. And speaking of zany — this week's Agenda is markedly so, with a UK cheese rolling contest taking place today, and Wes Anderson's new film The Phoenician Scheme beginning its own rollout across cinemas. Providing balance is the wistful photography of filmmaker Wim Wenders, and a rousing group exhibition in London that explores memory, belonging and place. But if you're just here to party, Lyon is calling with its umph umph umph annual electro takeover at Nuits Sonores. Unfortunately, we're not that cool — so will likely be watching And just Like That... while pretending it's World Eat A Large Pizza In Bed Day, or something. Lastly, if you're still debating seeing Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning, check out our latest culture catch-up for critic David Mouriquand's thoughts.* (spoiler: He hated it.) Here are this week's highlights. Wim Wenders: Nearby and Far Away. Photography Where: Galerie Bastian (Berlin, Germany) When: Until 26 July 2025 The German filmmaker behind classics like Paris, Texas and Wings of Desire, Wim Wenders has always had an incredible ability to capture the echoing expanse of human dreams. Richly metaphorical and quietly revelatory, his films transform people and places into moving poetry. It's a quality that's visible in his photography, too. On display at Berlin's Galerie Bastian, his series of snapshots taken across China depict the sweeping shapes and static figures of distant landscapes. For fans of Wenders' work, it's a must-see — with a major retrospective of his photography set to follow at the Bundeskunsthalle in August 2025. Finding My Blue Sky (A group show curated by Dr Omar Kholeif) Where: Lisson Gallery (London, UK) When: 30 May – 26 July 2025 Ahead of London Gallery Weekend (6-8 June), the prestigious Lisson Gallery is bringing over 20 artists together for a major new multimedia group exhibition, which spans both its Bell Street and Lisson Street spaces. Those involved include British artist Lubaina Himid, Nigerian visual artist Otobong Nkanga, and Lebanese painter and sculptor, Huguette Caland. Together, they have created a diverse and emotive ode to London that explores personal entwinements with places — how we shape them, and they, in turn, shape us. Bonus head's up: British virtual band Gorillaz have announced a new immersive exhibition titled 'House of Kong', set to open in August in London. Tickets are available now and likely to sell fast — don't be left On Melancholy Hill! Gloucestershire Cheese Rolling Festival Where: Cooper's Hill (Gloucestershire, UK) When: 26 May 2025 A whole day dedicated to cheese rolling? You'd feta believe it! Although the cheese of choice is actually a chunky wheel of Double Gloucester. This kooky annual event has been taking place since roughly 1826 — although the exact origins are murky and thought to date back even further. Hosted on Coopers Hill in the English county of Gloucestershire, participants must race to catch their cheeses — no easy feat when the wheels can reach speeds of up to 70mph. The first race begins at 12pm BST (1pm CEST), and to all those rolling with their homies: Gouda luck. Nuits Sonores 'Nights of Sound' Festival A post shared by Nuits sonores (@nuits_sonores) Where: Lyon, France When: 28 May - 1 June 2025 One of the biggest electro-music events in France, Nuits Sonores takes place across the vibrant city of Lyon for five days every year. From English trip hoppers Massive Attack, to American DJ Honey Dijon, to French electro duo Cassius and techno icon Jeff Mills — the line-up is well and truly stacked. Most of the major events will be held at Les Grandes Locos in the day, and La Sucrière at night, both former industrial spaces-turned cultural beacons. Grab your bucket hats and pour yourself a strong coffee — it's gonna be a late one. The Phoenician Scheme Where: UK cinemas When: 30 May (with a wider theatrical release 6 June) Fresh off the Cannes Film Festival circuit is Wes Anderson's latest confection, starring (as usual) an all-star ensemble that includes regulars Scarlett Johansson, Bill Murray and Benedict Cumberbatch. Set in the 1950s, we follow suave businessman Zsa-zsa Korda (Benicio del Toro) and his trainee nun daughter, Sister Liesl (Mia Threapleton) as they try to secure investments for a fictional place called Phoenicia — all while dodging a band of eccentric tycoons. Lots of pastel, perfectly poised mischief ensues in this frenetic family adventure, which will either delight Anderson fans — or exhaust them. And Just Like That… (Season 3) Where: Sky and NOW When: 30 May 2025 As a new season of the Sex and the City spin-off returns, I couldn't help but wonder: Why? That's a lie, actually — cringeworthy as the show is, it's also frustratingly addictive. Continuing to follow the lives of Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker), Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) and Charlotte (Kristin Davis) as they navigate their 50s alongside a host of new characters, it's got about as much substance as a Manolo Blahnik shoe. But fans know what they're in for here. And even if we're still reeling over that stupid season 2 ending in which Aidan asked Carrie to wait five years for him (as if!), the show's familiar template and superficial sheen encourage your brain to happily melt. Miley Cyrus: Something Beautiful When: 30 May 2025 In the nearly 20 years since her breakout role as teen pop idol Hannah Montana, Miley Cyrus has done everything to break free from her Disneyfication. Giant wrecking balls were straddled, and twerking routines performed. But through the struggle of growing up in the limelight, Miley emerged as an artist whose strength is in constantly evolving — and those powerhouse vocals. Following 'Endless Summer Vacation', from which 'Flowers' became Spotify's most-streamed song of 2023, she returns with her eighth output: 'Something Beautiful'. Inspired by Pink Floyd's groundbreaking concept album 'The Wall', Miley has also produced and directed a companion film, set to be released some time in June.
