A WWII psychiatrist evaluates Nazi leaders before the Nuremberg trials, growing increasingly obsessed with understanding evil as he forms a disturbing bond with Hermann Göring.
Chuck says:
The subject of feature films, a television mini-series and numerous documentaries, the 1946 trails at Nuremberg of Nazi war criminals has been examined from numerous perspectives. James Vanderbilt’s “Nuremberg” adopts a different approach, attempting to provide a more intimate look at the inner workings of one of the men behind the Final Solution. Using Jack El-Hai’s book “The Nazi and the Psychiatrist” as his foundation, the director examines the relationship between Dr. Douglas Kelley and Hermann Goring, the former having been charged with evaluating the latter, as well as his cronies, to see if they were fit to stand trial. The result of the months long interactions would have a profound effect on the doctor, though providing little in the way of insight as to what made Goring and his associates tick.
In the aftermath of World War II, the prevailing notion was that any members of the Nazi High Command who had been captured should be executed without a trial. Supreme Court Justice Robert H. Jackson (Michael Shannon) had a different notion, saying that in doing this, there was the potential of making these men martyrs and these acts might serve as a rallying point for any who shared their beliefs. Despite much resistance, Jackson was able to convince various leaders of the Allied Forces to hold a trial to be conducted on the world stage, so that the regime’s heinous acts could be fully exposed and condemned.
Enter Dr. Kelley (Rami Malek), an ambitious psychiatrist who immediately realizes the unique opportunity he’s been given. In getting to know Goring (Russell Crowe) and his cohorts, he hopes to determine what makes their outlook different from others and how they could have justified their amoral acts. It’s a noble cause but also a mercenary one as Kelley hopes to write a book about his findings that will bring him riches and acclaim. What he doesn’t count on is being charmed by Goring, coming to see him as a flawed man not without his reasons for acting as he did.
Vanderbilt isn’t short of ambition, his script containing multiple narratives and a large cast of dynamic characters. Richard E. Grant and Mark O’Brien are on hand as Sir David Maxwell-Fyfe and Colonel John Amen respectively, Jackson’s fellow prosecutors, while John Slattery appears as Colonel Burton C. Andrus, a stern taskmaster who’s assigned with running the prison section of the Nuremburg facility and keeping his inmates alive until the trial. A plot thread involving Goring’s wife, Emma (Lotte Verbeek) and daughter, Edda (Fleur Bremmer) and the friendship that forms between them, and Kelley provides a troubling moral dilemma, while the presence of the doctor’s translator, Sgt. Howie Triest (Leo Woddall), provides a human side to the tragedy of the conflict. Though the dialogue at times seems simplistic or smacks of modern speech, the script’s structure in terms of giving each plot thread equal time is impressive.
Across the board, the cast brings the necessary gravitas and sincerity to their roles, but Crowe walks away with the film. Taking an understated approach, the actor’s inherent sense of charm is put to good use here. Goring comes off as a seductive egotist whose sense of superiority leads to his downfall. For much of the film, Crowe doesn’t play him as a villain, rather as a man who was misguided, a devoted husband and father who hopes to be exonerated and return to them. Yet, once he’s on the stand, his true nature is revealed, the actor assuming a proud posture, dismissive attitude and unbridled arrogance, bringing to life Goring’s base nature without ever rending the set. It’s a powerful, subtle portrayal of evil that proves hard to shake.
“Nuremberg” ends with a warning, one that regrettably needs to be shouted from the rooftops once more. While Kelley may not have discovered what causes people to embrace and carry out a doctrine as amoral as Nazism, he was convinced the attitudes that foster it are all around us. That he’s obviously been proven correct, is without question. That we’ve allowed such things to take place once more is to our great shame. Vanderbilt, his cast and crew have fashioned a bracing reminder of what happens when such actions go unchecked. Let’s hope their message is heard before it’s too late.
3 1/2 Stars
