Nazi Hunter: The Beate Klarsfeld Story (1986) (TV)

Director:

Michael Lindsay-Hogg

Writer:

Frédéric Hunter (writer)

Release Date:

23 November 1986 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Farrah Fawcett plays real-life Beate Klarsfeld, a German Protestant housewife who, with the help of her Jewish law-student husband...

Plot Keywords:

Nazi

Awards:

Nominated for 3 Golden Globes.

Cast

Farrah Fawcett	...	Beate Klarsfeld
Tom Conti	...	Serge Klarsfeld
Geraldine Page	...	Itta Halaunbrenner
Hélène Vallier	...	Raissa Klarsfeld
Catherine Allégret	...	Simone Lagrange
Féodor Atkine	...	Luc Pleyel
Vincent Gauthier	...	Klaus Barbie in 1944
Claude Vernier	...	Klaus Barbie / Altmann
Jacques Vincey	...	David
Florence Haziot	...	Chantal
Eric Prat	...	Marco
Pierre-Olivier Scotto	...	Eli
Gilles Ségal	...	Herbert John
László Szabó	...	Arno Klarsfeld in 1943
Pascale de Boysson	...	Mrs. Kunzel

Also Known As:

Beate Klarsfeld (France)

Runtime:

120 min (including commercials) | Brazil:104 min

Country:

USA | France

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16

Filming Locations:

Nice, Alpes-Maritimes, France

Company:

Société Française de Production (SFP)

Serious work from Fawcett lends grit and determination to true-life drama...

Jewish law student in Paris, France 1960 begins dating a pretty German lass who, he quickly learns, falls into the "national amnesia" affecting everyone regarding the Nazi atrocities of WWII. After marrying and having a child, a newly-educated Beate (pronounced Bee-ah-tay) Klarsfeld makes it her foremost ambition to bring down the Nazi war-criminals still living freely throughout Europe...as well as Klaus Barbie, the monstrous SS Army Captain who successfully sought asylum in Bolivia under an assumed name. Handsomely-produced TV-movie starring Farrah Fawcett doesn't have the documentary style one might initially hope for, but it has something else: a tender-yet-gritty touch, as well as a big heart, which makes our headstrong heroine a three-dimensional character. Beate was a woman not hesitant to go out on the proverbial limb, and not just to cause a stir but to start a firestorm. She was sometimes labeled an attention seeker, she continually put herself in harm's way, and yet it was difficult for the press to criticize her when all she wanted to do was remove the shame from her German heritage. Fawcett is working seriously here and, though her German accent is a bit lax, she does sterling work; even better is Tom Conti as her husband and Geraldine Page as an elderly woman whose loved ones were all slaughtered by Barbie. An absorbing, enlightening piece of history--not too glossy or sentimental--though one which has been forgotten (sadly) since its initial airing in 1986.