Nuremberg

 

This film sets up a titanic confrontation between Psychiatrist Douglas Kelley (Remi Malik) and former Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring (Russell Crowe) (or Freddie Mercury against Gladiator!). In the days at the end of WWII Göring and his family are captured in Austria whilst fleeing from the Allies. He along with 21 other surviving members of the top ranking Nazi leadership are held in solitary confinement as the Allies work out how to put them on trial before they are killed.

Although the film is nearly 2.5 hours long, it never drags. History tells us the destination of the narrative - the only question is how we get there. Most of the film centres on the encounters between Kelley and Göring as Kelley attempts to assess the state of well-being of the Nazi leaders. It is a complex and difficult task. One feigns amnesia, one has a nervous breakdown, another commits suicide. As Kelley and Göring play intellectual cat and mouse games, Göring continually tries to become Kelley's friend in an attempt to undermine the doctor/patient relationship. How far he succeeds is open to question such is the subterfuge going on.

There are few female characters in this story. A journalist Lila (Lydia Peckham) who writes for the Boston Globe and who will prove to be Kelley's downfall and Göring's wife and daughter who are holed up in a village nearby. The lead American prosecutor, Robert H Jackson's (Michael Shannon) secretary and adviser Elsie (Wrenn Schmidt) is also present but the world of the film is very much a man's world.

Eventually the Allies manage to gather a consensus that an International Military Tribunal will be set up to try the Nazis in Nuremberg - the site of their grand rallies in the 1930s. The Tribunal will have four judges, one each from the USA, UK, France and Russia. First of all, the Allies had to decide how to proceed when there is no case law that can guide a trial in an international context. What happened at Nuremburg laid the foundation for the international laws that exist today and which safeguard nations against other nations (supposedly).

Lead American Prosecutor Jackson, is a bit rusty in terms of engaging in courtroom cut and thrust as he has been a judge for many years. The lead British prosecutor, Sir David Maxwell-Fyfe (Richard E Grant) on the other hand is sharp and his questions penetrating, which eventually get the job done. As part of the prosecution case, newsreel footage is shown of a number of Concentration Camps being liberated and there is no holding back on what was discovered and shown in the film. This makes extremely uncomfortable viewing - be warned.

This film is not about the destination but the journey. Both Crowe and Malik turn in extremely good performances. It has a couple of twists and turns, including Kelley teaching Göring a magic trick which has serious repercussions. A lot of the dialogue is about who might hold the moral high ground and the ins and outs of how the relationship between Kelley and Göring unfolds exposes human hypocrisy on all sides. Kelley is exposed for being no different to the rest of humanity and that invited me ask the question if Göring and company were just the same me or is there a difference. I'd like to think there is.

I was born in the 1950s in West Germany in the wake of the aftermath of WWII and as a consequence I felt the wind of hopeful change Nuremberg ushered in. The fact that West Germany no longer exists is good news. Except for the Balkans, and the odd military coup, Europe has enjoyed peace throughout my lifetime which is extremely encouraging - particularly given the times we live in now. The single most important lesson to come out of Nuremberg is to ensure that there is no need for another Nuremberg at some stage in the future.

In the years after the Nuremberg trial, Kelley writes a book on the episode and is invited to be on a panel on a radio show. He is convinced that the behaviour exhibited by the Nazi leadership is present in all cultures at all times - including the USA and only needs the right set of circumstances for it to come to unsavoury fruition. Caveat emptor! I'll give this film 8/10.