Plot
On 7 May 1945, the day before Nazi Germany surrenders to the Allies, Reichsmarshall Hermann Göring, Hitler's second-in-command, surrenders with his family to U.S. forces in Austria. Simultaneously, Associate Justice Robert Jackson hears of Göring's arrest, prompting a discussion with his secretary Elsie Douglas about establishing an international tribunal to charge the surviving Nazi leaders with war crimes.
Conservative, Douglas notes that such action has no legally established international precedent. However, Jackson enthusiastically believes they could establish one. Initially, the U.S. is reluctant to support Jackson's plans in favor of summary executions. However, Jackson persists, winning Pope Pius XII's support by aluding to his controversial relationship with the Nazi regime.
Elsewhere, U.S. Army psychiatrist Major Douglas Kelley is summoned to Bad Mondorf, Luxembourg, to evaluate twenty-two Nazi leaders' mental health selected for prosecution in Allied custody - including Göring. Reporting to the warden, Col. Burton Andrus, Kelley works with interpreter Sergeant Howard Triest.
Initial meetings with Göring are civil, however other prisoners such as Robert Ley and Julius Streicher are contemptuous. Personally, Kelley appraises Göring as intelligent and highly narcissistic. He plans to use his notes of their interactions to write a tell-all book.
Jackson and British barrister Sir David Maxwell Fyfe are made prosecuting counsels for the newly-established International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg, Germany. They charge the detainees with crimes against peace, war crimes, crimes against humanity and conspiracy.
Kelley and Göring initially interact warmly, as Göring helps him examine former-Deputy Führer Rudolf Hess, in exchange for writing his wife Emmy and daughter Edda. Kelley also connects with them, while acting as a courier between them and Göring. Privately, Jackson gets Kelley to give him the prisoners' legal defense to shape the prosecution.
Before the trial commences, Ley strangles himself to death in his cell, so Andrus summons psychologist Gustave Gilbert for a second opinion. At the trial's beginning, Jackson's strong opening statement highlights the need for accountability, while Göring et al are silenced and must enter a plea, so plead not guilty. During adjournments, Kelley learns that Göring's family had been arrested in connection with his reported art thefts and requests Andrus intervene. Later, Gilbert tells Göring.
The prosecution shows footage displaying the atrocities committed inside the concentration camps. An upset Kelley confronts Göring, who had previously denied any knowledge of such actions. He stands by his unawareness, then compares them with alleged crimes committed by the Allies.
Dismayed, an enibriated Kelley unwittingly reveals his private discussions with Göring to Lila, a The Boston Globe journalist - who publishes the information. Infuriated, Andrus relieves Kelley and expulses him, but reveals Emmy and Edda were released. While leaving, Triest tells Kelley he is a German-born Jew and although his younger sister escaped to Switzerland, his parents were executed in 1942.
Triest warns that general impassivity towards evil left the regime's cruelty unchallenged. This compels Kelley to stay and submit all his private notes on Göring to Jackson and Fyfe - predicting Göring will use the trial to defend the regime's conduct. As expected, Göring evades Jackson's cross-examination, then declares his decree of the Final Solution was intended as a complete solution focused on the emigration of Germany's Jews rather than extermination.
Jackson's ire towards Göring earns him a stern rebuke by the tribunal. So, Fyfe takes over. He exploits Göring's vanity, goading him into showing his continued loyalty to Hitler. Subsequently, Göring is sentenced to death by hanging.
Visiting Göring before leaving, Kelley recognizes Göring's true nature. On 15 October, 1946 - the night before his execution, Göring commits suicide by cyanide, to Andrus' anger. The remaining proceed as scheduled, with Streicher breaking down. Triest, who had yearned to reveal his Jewish heritage to him before his execution, instead gently assists him to the gallows. Streicher has to be weighed down on the noose to die.
Traumatized by Nuremberg, Kelley returns to the U.S., publishes the ultimately unsuccessful tell-all, 22 Cells in Nuremberg. He resorts to alcoholism and spends the rest of his life in vain warning about the possibility of a future regime parallel to the Nazis, before committing suicide via cyanide in 1958; Triest reunites with his sister, while Jackson's prosecutions laid the foundation for international prosecution of war crimes.
Reception
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 71% of 185 critics' reviews are positive.The website's consensus reads: "Driven by a commanding performance from Russell Crowe, Nuremberg is a handsomely crafted historical drama, but its measured pacing and emotional restraint keep it from fully realizing the complexity of its subject." [14] Metacritic , which uses a weighted average , assigned the film a score of 61 out of 100, based on 37 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews. [15]
Matt Zoller Seitz of RogerEbert.com gave the film three out of four stars and wrote that "it's a solid film of [a] kind that used to be more common: an earnest, unpretentious Oscar Movie that wants to be seen by everyone, and consequently doesn't try to be too complex or arty. It wants to educate and inspire as well as entertain, and isn't shy about that ambition." [16]
Writing for The Daily Beast , Nick Schrager found the film to be flawed in spite of the star actors in the film and pointed out director Vanderbilt's flaws by stating: "Nuremberg is constructed like an old-fashioned awards-bait period piece, complete with trailer-ready lines of dialogue that put a neat-and-tidy button on scenes. There’s a mechanical quality to Vanderbilt’s plotting that negates the unexpected and enlightening." [17]
In a review for The Guardian , Peter Bradshaw rated the film 2/5, noting: "All of these actors do their best, but the figure of Kelley himself is a ridiculous cartoon." [18] He cited Rami Malek's performance as "deeply silly." Katie Walsh of The LA Times described the film as "well-intentioned and elucidating despite some missteps." [19]
