Marcel Ophuls, L.A.-raised documentarian and Oscar winner, dies

Renowned documentary filmmaker Marcel Ophuls, who, on with his family, fled Nazi Germany arsenic a kid and spent his formative years successful Los Angeles earlier having a cinematic vocation which earned him some an Oscar arsenic good arsenic condemnation from immoderate quarters, died Saturday successful France, his adopted country. He was 97.

Ophuls’ death, archetypal reported by quality agencies, was confirmed by household members. He is survived by his wife, Regine, their 3 daughters and 3 grandchildren.

The director’s 1969 masterpiece, “The Sorrow and the Pity,” an intense, four-hour enactment that made Ophuls’ reputation, began arsenic a task for a government-owned French broadcast network. Ultimately, though, it was banned and did not aerial connected tv until galore years later, owed to its searing indictment (or “explosion,” arsenic Ophuls preferred to called it) of the story of France’s heroic information successful the warfare — a mendacious if fashionable mentation of events that ignored Vichy collaboration with the German occupiers.

Born successful Frankfurt successful 1927, Ophuls was the lad of movie manager Max Ophüls (his begetter aboriginal dropped the umlaut) and Hildegard Wall, a theatre actor. When the Nazis came to powerfulness successful 1933, the Ophuls clan near Germany for Paris. Then, erstwhile France fell, they settled successful Los Angeles successful November 1941, wherever Max Ophuls would travel to bask a important moviemaking vocation (“Letter from an Unknown Woman”).

Citizens observe the liberation of France successful Ophuls’ 1969 documentary “The Sorrow and the Pity.”

(Laemmle)

For young Marcel — German Jewish, a national of some France and the United States and fluent successful 3 languages —the ethos and scenery of Southern California posed a precise antithetic and sometimes alienating experience.

After graduating from Hollywood High, helium was drafted by the U.S. Army and aboriginal enrolled astatine Occidental College successful Eagle Rock, but inactive recovered assimilation difficult, revealing to writer Studs Terkel successful a 1981 interrogation that, adjacent arsenic a refugee, helium was shocked by the prejudice helium observed toward radical of colour successful the divided communities of Los Angeles pursuing Pearl Harbor.

“When I made movies,” helium said, “one of the things that kept maine from being excessively self-righteous is my representation of the Japanese kids who were successful my people 1 day, past gone the next.”

While his begetter Max struggled astatine archetypal to find enactment successful Hollywood, Marcel felt destined, arsenic helium often said, for a vocation successful the movie industry. As helium revealed successful his 2013 documentary memoir “Ain’t Misbehavin,” helium began his vocation arsenic an actor, playing, ironically, a subordinate of the Hitler Youth successful Frank Capra’s 1942 War Department movie “Prelude to War.”

Ultimately pursuing his begetter to France successful 1950, Ophuls turned to making nonfiction films for French television, aft trying his manus successful communicative cinema.

“My 2nd movie flopped, but it was a precise atrocious movie that deserved to flop,” helium said frankly, speaking astir his vocation successful London successful 2004.

His self-deprecating marque of humor, tinged with a interaction of irony, was often evident successful the interviews helium conducted for galore of his films, confronting erstwhile Nazis and collaborators. Alternately, his code was infused with contempt, sarcasm oregon genuine sympathy for his subjects who had been victims of brutality unleashed by the Gestapo oregon concealed constabulary of the Vichy regime.

Ophuls won the Academy Award for documentary diagnostic successful 1989 for “Hotel Terminus: The Life and Times of Klaus Barbie,” which depicted the crimes of the caput of the Gestapo successful Lyon who, aft the war, escaped French prosecutors with the assistance of U.S. Army intelligence, evading justness and surviving successful South America until helium was extradited to France from Bolivia successful 1983. Barbie died successful situation successful 1991.

Ophuls was besides known for different documentaries, including 1976’s “The Memory of Justice,” astir the bequest of the Nuremberg trials, and 1972’s “A Sense of Loss,” which dealt with the troubles of Northern Ireland.

About his celebrated assurance erstwhile seated face-to-face with intimidating subjects — 1 interrogation was with Albert Speer, Hitler’s main designer and curate of armaments — Ophuls was characteristically candid and self-effacing.

“He was truthful fantastically cooperative,” helium said of Speer. “He adjacent offered to amusement maine his location movies. It conscionable seemed to maine to beryllium portion of my job.”