My Enemy’s Enemy

Kevin Macdonald
(87’, France/U.K.)
***^1/2

Notorious for the torture and death of French resistance leader Jean Moulin, and the arrest and deportation of 44 Jewish children from an orphanage in Izieu, France, German war criminal Klaus Barbie is an easy target. But director Kevin Macdonald, who demonstrated he isn’t afraid of ambiguity with his 2006 feature The Last King of Scotland, refuses to take sides in his latest documentary. He places the blame squarely on both the brutally unapologetic Nazi known as the Butcher of Lyon and the American forces that not only let him go free, but depended on his expertise in their Cold War efforts against the Soviets, and then later found him refuge in Bolivia. Macdonald skilfully employs victims’ wrenching testimonies, talking heads (historians, journalists, counter-intelligence experts), archival footage of Barbie, and the vehement refutations of his daughter Ute to paint the picture of a ruthless man who was reviled, hunted, protected, encouraged, used, and left to hang by the West. As they say, war does not determine who is right, only who is left. (SV)

Originally published September 2007

Comments are not enabled for this article.

Current Issue

Contests

Links and Offers

Safestchina.com is No.1 B2B Marketplace in buyers' safety providing wholesale Marketplace for importers and exporters around the globe.
Learn how to save money with thousands of money-saving tips on insurance, your mortgage, electric bills, credit cards, cell phones, and more at billeater.com.
Play online bingo in the best new bingo sites in the UK for your bingo pleasure.
Fashion4us is an online Asian fashion (Korean, Japanese, Taiwanese) wholesaler. Consumers will be satisfied with the original quality and huge discount on wholesale clothing collections.

TIFF Reviews

My Enemy’s Enemy

Related

More TIFF Reviews Articles

Current Issue

Contests

Links and Offers

Most shared stories today

The Dish

The Goods

The Hype

The Informer