Review of Hôtel Terminus: The Life and Times of Klaus Barbie (1988) by Jeff B — 09 Aug 2009

Very good and quite fascinating documentary about the nazi officer Klaus Barbie who after World War II went into hiding until finally being caught 40 years later and brought to trial in France. At 4 1/2 hours long, it's a bit tough to get through at times, but there are a lot of very interesting moments, especially the last hour or two.

But my one problem with this film (and I guess I could say the same for Marcel Ophuls other documentary The Sorrow and the Pity) is that the film just jumped right into the interviews without really having a backstory.

I didn't know anything about Barbie or the American and French involvement with him, so I had trouble keeping up with the interviews (and there are a ton of them). Still, this very informative and worth the watch.