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his own hands in this troubling look at life in
Europe after WWII. Max Baumstein (Michel
Piccoli) is a well-known human rights activist and
avowed pacifist who, to the shock and puzzlement
of many, murders a politician from South America.
As Baumstein goes to trial, it is revealed that his
victim was in fact a Nazi war criminal who ordered
the deaths of thousands of people including
Baumstein's parents. In flashback, Max recalls
the horrors of the Nazi occupation of France, and
he remembers Elsa Weiner (Romy Schneider), a
woman who helped save his life and struggled to
free her husband Michel (Helmut Griem) from a
concentration camp after he was condemned for
publishing anti-fascist literature.
'The Passerby' marked the final screen
appearance of Romy Schneider, who played both
Elsa and Baumstein's wife Lina; Schneider died of
heart failure shortly after it was released.
