Summaries

A documentary on Jacques Vergès, the controversial lawyer and former Free French Forces guerrilla who has defending unpopular figures such as Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie and Holocaust denier Roger Garaudy.

An examination of the career of Jacques Vergès, attorney for members of Algeria's FLN, Palestine's FPLP, the Khmer Rouge, Carlos and associates, Klaus Barbie, and other revolutionaries and outcasts. Archival footage, news articles, and photographs mix with contemporary interviews of Vergès, friends, associates, and historians. Connections with Nazis are explored, as well as Vergès's marriage to Djamila Bouhared, his courtroom methods, his disappearance from 1970 to 1978, and the roots of his radicalism. Throughout, Vergès remains playful and charming, with a soupçon of arrogance. The film suggests Vergès's anti-colonial nature is at his center.—<[email protected]>

Details

Keywords
  • 1950s
  • 1980s
  • 1970s
  • 1960s
  • reference to klaus barbie
Genres
  • History
  • Biography
  • Documentary
Release date Jun 5, 2007
Motion Picture Rating (MPA) Unrated
Countries of origin France
Language English German French Central Khmer
Filming locations Algiers, Algeria
Production companies Canal+ Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animée (CNC) La Sofica Uni Etoile 3

Box office

Gross US & Canada $47724
Opening weekend US & Canada $11197
Gross worldwide $1086656

Tech specs

Runtime 2h 15m
Color Color
Sound mix Dolby Digital
Aspect ratio 1.85 : 1

Synopsis

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