Nuremberg (2025)

Plot of Nuremberg: When the Nazi leadership is rounded up at the end of the Second World War it is decided that they are to be tried for crimes against humanity, even though at the time, there was no international criminal court with the mandate of trying the leaders of one country in the location of another. The court is set up in Nuremberg as an international venture, apparently being led by the Americans, with Justice Robert H Jackson leading the prosecution co-chaired by British barrister Sir David Maxwell Fyfe. The Americans have tasked psychiatrist Douglas Kelley with the job of assessing the mental condition of the Germans, and he develops a relationship with Herman Göring, acting as a go-between between the general and his wife and daughter. When one of the Germans manages to commit suicide, Kelley’s findings are called into question and a further shrink is assigned. Additionally the prosecutors want to know how the Germans intend to defend themselves. Kelley knows but will he tell?

Content: There is no sex or nudity. Some drinking. Kelley gets drunk on occasion and as a result spills some of the beans to a journalist, and is sacked for doing so. We see Göring actually captured on the road in his staff car, and there is discussion at one time about his drug taking habits, which he kicks while imprisoned, at the advice of Kelley. In the middle of the film a lot of courtroom scenes, sometimes with Goring being interrogated. His generally commanding performance on the stand apparently being spiked by the British barrister Sir David Maxwell Fyfe.  A lot of film is shown of the real death camps which are distressing to watch – not for the faint hearted. The suicides are also shown and more than one hanging, all realistically unpleasant.

A View: This is an earnest outing variously reviewed by the critics. Russell Crowe’s Göring well thought of and in some cases Rami Malek’s Kelley being considered comedic. As a drama it was up against the fact that we already knew the outcomes, although the psychiatric business was seriously manipulated in order to provide something of a plot. The real images of the death camps stick in my mind. Genuine horror in a fictional film, but somehow we had to see them just so that we would know what these old guys had done.  I suppose that you should only watch this film if you are prepared to see them, otherwise the whole outing is pointless. So that is something to consider.

Fun Fact: This is not a fun film.