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Marcel Ophuls Dies at 97: Remembering Life and Career of Oscar-Winning Director
Marcel Ophuls, the Oscar-winning director of The Sorrow and the Pity, has passed away at the age of 97. Scroll down to look back at the ace filmmaker’s life and career.
Trigger Warning: This article contains mention of death.
Marcel Ophuls passed away. The Oscar-winning director, known for his work in The Sorrow and the Pity, breathed his last on Monday, May 26. The unfortunate news was confirmed by the late filmmaker's grandson, Andreas-Benjamin Seyfert, to The Hollywood Reporter.
Ophuls' documentary movie based on the events of World War II was heavily lauded by the audience, as well as the critics, for the film went on to shatter several myths about the Nazi Germany rule by Hitler back in the day.
Who was Marcel Ophuls?
The Academy Award-winning director was born in Frankfurt on November 1, 1927. Marcel Ophuls was the son of a legendary director, Max Ophuls, who was well-known for his work in movies like Letter from an Unknown Woman and La Ronde.
With Hitler taking control of Germany, the family, along with Marcel, fled from their home country to Spain and then settled in the United States. The ace director took American citizenship and served as an army GI in occupied Japan.
Marcel then returned to France in the 1960s in the hope of making movies for the French audience. However, he could not make it as a director due to a lack of response to his films like Banana Peel and The Sorrow and the Pity.
A few years later, the director made the film titled Hotel Terminus, based on the life of Klaus Barbie. Ophuls spent 5 years making and researching the film. The movie was based on the Nazis and it went on to win the Oscar award in the category of Best Documentary Feature.
Speaking about his documentary, Ophuls told The Guardian, "I didn't choose to make documentaries. There was no vocation. Each one was an assignment." He further added, "It doesn't attempt to prosecute the French. Who can say their nation would have behaved better in the same circumstances?"
The late director is survived by his wife, Regine, his daughters, and three grandchildren.
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