Hailed as one of the most moving and influential films of our time, the Academy Award nominated documentary The Sorrow and the Pity (Le chagrin et la pitié), directed by Marcel Ophüls, has continued to garner international acclaim since its release in 1969.

An epic account of the occupation of small French industrial city Clermont-Ferrand by the Germans in World War 2 (it runs for over 4 hours), Ophüls combines interviews along with archive footage to explore the reality of occupation. Speaking to Resistance fighters, collaborators, spies, farmers, government officials, writers, artists and veterans, it is perhaps the most gripping and inspiring portrait of how ordinary people actually conducted themselves under extraordinary circumstances.

Divided into two parts, titled The Collapse and The Choice, The Sorrow and the Pity will be released on UK DVD on 24th August 2009 by Arrow Films at the RRP of £19.99.