The Memory of Justice

Infobox Film
name = The Memory of Justice


image_size =
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director = Marcel Ophüls
producer = Ana Carrigan
Hamilton Fish
Max Palevsky
writer =
narrator =
starring =
music =
cinematography = Michael J. Davis
editing = Inge Behrens
distributor = Paramount Pictures
released = October 4 1976
runtime = 278 mins.
country = flagicon|France France
flagicon|Germany Germany
flagicon|UK United Kingdom
USA
language = French
budget =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
website =
amg_id = 1:132801
imdb_id = 0074891

"The Memory of Justice" is a 1976 documentary film directed by Marcel Ophüls. It explores the subject of atrocities committed in wartime and features Joan Baez, Karl Dönitz, Hermann Göring, Hans-Joachim Kulenkampff, Yehudi Menuhin, Albert Speer and Telford Taylor.

The film was inspired by Telford Taylor's book , and Taylor is interviewed extensively during the film. But Ophüls takes the book as a starting point for exploring the possibility of people judging one another, especially in light of their behavior in other contexts, as well as dealing with individual versus collective responsibility. [Vincent Canby, "Film Fete: The Memory of Justice", New York Times, October 5, 1976, p. 52.]

The film had a difficult genesis. It was originally financed in the summer of 1973 by BBC, Polytel, and a private company based in London, Visual Programme Systems (VPS), the latter of whom had wanted the film to dwell heavily on America's involvement in Vietnam and France's involvement in Algeria. After completing rough cuts, VPS was dismayed at Ophüls work (particularly his excessive leaning on the Nuremberg Trials and Nazi involvement) and tried to remove him as director. [David Denby, 'The Sorry and the Pity of A Film About Nuremberg," New York Times, April 27, 1975, p. 111.] Fortunately, Hamilton Fish V organized a group of investors who were able to buy back the rights to the film from VPS and allow Ophüls to complete it. [David Denby, "Two Suppressed Documentaries: A Happy Ending," New York Times, October 12, 1975, p. 177.]

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External links

*imdb title|0074891