My Grading System

A+ = Masterpiece (I hold back on this one.) / A = Great. / A- = Really Good. / B+ = Good. / B = Decent (Serviceable). / B- = Flawed but okay (For those times there's something redeeming about the work). / C+ = Not very good (Skip it). C = Bad. / C- = Awful. / F = Complete Disaster (I hold back on this one too).

Note on Spoilers: I will try to avoid ruining a story by going into too much detail. But if I wish to include some revealing points to my analysis I will try to remember to add a separate spoiler paragraph.

Friday, November 9, 2012

Hotel Terminus: The Life and Times of Klaus Barbie (1988)

This documentary about the infamous Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie the Butcher of Lyon is over four hours long.  You'd think that would be ridiculously long, especially with a film with mostly interviews.  But director Marcel Ophüls makes every minute count and I found myself so intrigued that its length didn't bother me.  The narrative of the documentary deals with Klaus Barbie's childhood, how he joined the Nazi Regine, his very comfortable and equally abhorrent life on the run in South America and all the irony of his capture when he was an old man.  If you're a history buff, you'll enjoy it.  But if a bunch of interviews about a torturer who never really pays for his crimes depresses you or makes you yawn, stay away from this.  Grade: A-     
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