Length: 2h 28m
Released: 2025
Rating: PG-13
Where I Got It: Theater
SUMMARY:
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.
REVIEW:
Rarely do I go to the theater anymore, but when I do it is for a movie that I've been itching to see. This is one of them. I took my fellow history-loving friend and Hubby. I'm so glad we did.
The movie follows Dr Kelley as he is tasked with being a psychiatrist for the Nazi leaders arrested. They will be facing trial. One of the main leaders is Hermann Goring who is 2nd in charge of Nazi Germany. Dr Kelley becomes obsessed with learning and understanding the evil in front of him.
This movie is haunting me. I want to go back and see it again. The way they filmed this was great. They really dig into the minds of these Nazi bastards. Especially Goring. Goring and Kelley form a weird friendship until Kelley sees something that cannot redeem these men.
The first half you can see how Goring got to where he was in life. He was charming and sauve and he felt like you could have a beer with him. He was an amazing maniuplator. There were times I started to feel bad for him, but then the court scene. Oh.My.God. I was in tears. It was hard to watch but it was a HUGE reminder that these men were evil. Pure evil. Sure they are human at their core and maybe didn't start evil, but they were just as bad as Hitler.
I loved how complex this was. It was so layered and I couldn't look away. The acting was amazing and if they don't receive an award....then I don't know what a good movie is.
But yes, trigger warning....I'll put a spoiler alert here: There are ACTUAL scenes from the camps that they show at the trial. [End spoiler] I felt these were super important to display to remind viewers of the terrible events that transpired and that our pity for these men could and should only go far.
The scene where Kelley gets in Goring's face was Oscar-worthy for both men. Damn. You could feel the hatred.
100% worth the watch. This movie came out at a good time to remind us that evil is great at hiding. Evil men (and women) are amazing at charming their way to the top. They are great at tricking and lying straight to our faces. Bad people can do a lot of damage. Sure, they may have not started off as evil, but power is a nasty, nasty thing.
5 stars.
7 comments:
Good to know the movie was well done.
Anne - Books of My Heart
They did a great job
I have just watched this film and agree it was powerful (my mum never ate a single popcorn during the scene where they show actual bodies in the camps footage). I haven't seen the miniseries of the same name but Crowe's portrayal of Göring reminded me of Bruno Ganz's portrayal of Hitler in the 2004 film "Downfall". At first, I did fear that maybe that they would humanize Göring too much but it then turns around and reminds us that he is proud of his legacy he is leaving behind and would follow Hitler to Hell if need be. It reminds audiences that to give the impression Hitler and the Nazis were some kind of caricature or personification of evil is not the important image to hold. They was obviously hideously immoral and cruel men, but to portray him as some kind of charmless psychopaths detracts from the fact that they was actually human beings, and that what makes it more scary and revolting. It is no coincidence that the last thing Göring says to Douglas Kelley is whether years from now, people would acknowledge the Nazi were "human". It is clear Göring would often charm people using his personality, only to manipulate and betray them; he could come cross as a very charming man – a man who managed to seduce a whole people into barbarism (think like "Faux Affably Evil"). Göring would have laughed, would have cried and undoubtedly loved his wife and daughter. I'm not trying to say "he had a good side" or "he wasn't all bad", I just think it's far more important and harrowing to show the simple truth as someone like him could appear again given the right circumstances.
What do you think of this article which details a similar concept looking at Stalin's "humanity"?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/coldwar/stalin_01.shtml
Speaking of talking, another nice touch was the Germans spoke German without subtitles. The audience is left to figure out what they are talking about. Imagine that. Of course, today most viewers are probably just thankful they don’t have to read and to hell with what they are saying.
One day, definitely
Sam, I completely agree. That is what made this film so powerful. Maybe these men were once good, but corruption and hate turned them evil. The film did a wonderful job showing the complexity and horror that power can do. I felt so bad for Dr Kelley at the end. I'll check out the article! Thank you for sharing!!
B, yesss do it. I am curious as to what you would think.
There is a similar sentence in the Stalin BBC article but I think the fact that Goering did genuinely love his wife and daughter, I think, makes him even more of a monster. The fact that he feels love and affection and yet still is willing to support such an ideology like the Nazis, knows the horror of what was done to the Jews and yet feels no empathy anyway (when he sees the footage, he puts on his headphones, as though to ward off any empathy he may be having, because he is stubborn and hardheaded). The scariest monsters are the ones that know the pain they inflict yet do so anyway, for what they perceive as "the common good."
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