The 25th Hour (1967)

Set in 1939 Romania, a corrupt police constable (Gregoire Aslan) lusts after the beautiful wife (Virna Lisi) of a peasant (Anthony Quinn). In order to get him out of the way, the official has the gentile peasant arrested as a Jew and sent to a work camp. Thus begins a ten year journey from a prisoner in a Nazi concentration camp to prosecution as a war criminal for his role in abetting the Nazis. Based on the novel by C. Virgil Gheorghiu and directed by Henri Verneuil (THE SICILIAN CLAN). While I understand the film's concept of a simple apolitical peasant being swept up in the horrors of war and doing what he needs to do in order to survive, I had a problem with him not grasping the significance of what was going on around him as he blithely (and ignorantly) goes with the flow even as he dons a Nazi uniform. His entire attitude seems to be, "Gee, I'm not a Jew, why is this happening to me?" rather than "these people are monsters!". When we finally arrive at the end of the movie's journey, we're slammed on the head with a hammer screaming, "This man has suffered, he'll never be right again!". I can't summon up much empathy for Quinn's character. He survived when better men than him died. The striking main title sequence was designed by Jean Fouchet and the score is by Georges Delerue. With Michael Redgrave, Serge Reggiani, Francoise Rosay, Alexander Knox, Marius Goring and Marcel Dalio.