The Memory of Justice

focuses on the question of guilt surrounding war crimes in modern history. This weighty film takes as its starting point the Nuremberg trials in 1945 and 1946, in which central figures from the Third Reich stood trial. What is the relationship between collective guilt and individual guilt? Does such a thing as universally applicable morality exist? Is it acceptable for states to impose their will and laws on other countries? These are just some of the questions put forward by director Marcel Ophüls. This almost five-hour-long document from 1976 was inspired by the book by Telford Taylor, the American prosecutor in Nuremberg. Taylor speaks extensively in the film, as do dozens of others, including the British prosecutor Hartley Shawcross and Albert Speer, the architect for the Nazi regime. Archive footage alternates with personal stories and philosophical reflections on guilt and innocence. Ophüls once said, "The Germans, unfortunately, are just like other people." This touches at the very heart of this film, which poses the question of whether it is justified to condemn other peoples' choices made in a specific situation. Ophüls's other films include the documentaries , about the German occupation of France, and , about Protestant vs. Catholic violence in Belfast.