Movie Review: Nuremberg

My girlfriend and I went to see Nuremberg on Sunday evening. This was a movie which had intrigued me since I first learned about it. So I looked forward to seeing it, and finally saw it a little over two weeks after it was released.

Before I go on, of course, there should be the standard warning to stop reading if you intend to read this book, because there will be spoilers ahead.

SPOILER ALERT

SPOILER ALERT

SPOILER ALERT

Okay, so by now if you are still reading this, I have to imagine that you either are familiar with this movie already, or perhaps you do not mind the spoilers. Please just don't say that you were not given advanced warning. 

Ready?

Now, this is a history movie, largely based on actual events. So in that regard, a "spoiler alert" seems a little...well, pointless. After all, of this has happened and, I assume, most people actually going to see this movie are likely at least passingly familiar with what actually happened here.

Still, there are different interpretations of historical events. I read one review from a Jewish person who was entirely dismissive of the movie and at least claimed to have walked out halfway through, because it was evidently too antisemitic for their tastes. They used one story told by Hermann Goering in particular as the illustration of this perceived bias. And while I can understand that to a certain degree, it did not feel to me that this movie was either antisemitic or hate mongering in total or in tone, or that it glossed over the crimes committed against Jews (and others) during the Holocaust. Far from it. Also, frankly, to claim that the words from a very high-ranking Nazi official in a movie largely centered on that historical figure are somehow proof that the movie is antisemitic seems a little...well, naive. Would you prefer a sanitized version of history, so that the actual antisemitism is glossed over, and the reasons for the crimes against humanity themselves are, therefore, glossed over?

I don't get it. 

Anyway, that was my personal slice of opinion. Yes, there are definitely antisemitic views by some of the characters in this movie. But can you expect anything different with a movie focusing on high-ranking Nazi officials? I'm sorry, but it seems obvious that some antisemitic views will be seen and heard, since this is based on history. Hello? 

So while I acknowledge some of criticisms of this movie and how bothered they were by the way that it seemingly humanized the Nazis, and particularly Goering. While I can sympathize to some degree, it seems also that this is what we need right now. Not another movie which portrays Nazis as inhuman monsters, but to recognize that they actually were human beings. That they had their strengths and weaknesses, their hopes and dreams (yes, even after the war ended disastrously for Germany), and their insecurities, their arrogance and hubris, and all of that.

In short, whether you like it or not, these people were human beings. Yes, they absolutely, undeniably did some things and committed some crimes which force people to question their humanity. But in fact, they are human beings, with real lives and real human traits that we can all relate to. That's not being antisemitic by acknowledging that simple fact. it's just the reality. In fact, to me, the fact that these people really are human beings, and that the movie shows them in that light, makes what happened all the more horrific. Because indeed, these very human people were responsible for a chapter in history that will surely never be forgotten while civilization lasts. The level of cruelty, particularly the bureaucratic nature of a mass extermination, is what makes what they did stand out so uniquely in history. If we dumb it down so that they are regarded only and exclusively as monsters, I think that we miss the point of the danger of something like this actually happening again. These were real people, and they orchestrated a terrible chapter in human history that almost everyone agrees should never be repeated. However, it seems to me a prerequisite for us to understand their humanness in order to avoid something like this in the future. If we turn them into caricatures, to people who we cannot relate to at all, then what lessons are to be learned? 

Remember the timing for when this movie is coming out. After all, the United States itself suddenly cannot seem to avoid putting a seemingly unstable populist who plays people's fear and prejudices and even hatreds for his own narrow political gain. Believe me, I understand the temptation to dehumanize him, or billionaires who keep orchestrating policies behind the scenes so that they can make still more billions or even trillions. However, we must remember that they are human beings, and not mere caricatures (much less Gods). 

At one point, we see Goering, who is brilliantly captured by Russell Crowe, conversing in a relaxed manner about why he, and Germans more generally, turned to Hitler. And he says that Hitler made them feel more German. He had simple solutions which seemed workable, and promised to restore German pride and greatness. 

Does that sound familiar? Personally, I believe that Trump has that same message for many Americans who otherwise feel forgotten. There are some similarities, albeit obviously also some differences, between Germany in the 1930's leading up to the rise of the Nazis, and the modern day realities and circumstances in the United States which have led to the rise of Trump and MAGA. I never "got" the apparent dark charisma or charm, but that does not mean that it does not exist. What Goering describes in this movie about Hitler felt like it resonated, because Trump seems to make whole groups of people feel less forgotten. He appeals to a largely fictional time in American history when everything supposedly was right, when the country worked well and was unified and strong. He often harkens back to a time when white people - and particularly white men - enjoyed a very privileged status in the country. And I personally believe that this is a large part of his appeal, since the core of his support is white people, and especially white men. Not a minor point, in my personal opinion. 

Of course a movie like this is going to be controversial. It is about a doctor who is ascertaining the mental and physical health of Nazis who are about to go on trial for crimes against humanity. So he is focusing on the very human side of what the entire world at that point viewed as inhuman monsters. Not light subject matter, to be sure. Bound to upset some people.

Isn't that the point, though? 

Personally, I thought that this was a good movie. And timely, for that matter. There is a reason why it came out when it did. Now especially, when Trump for the first time suggested that some opposition government officials might be imprisoned and even executed. It hardly feels like it could have been an accident. that this particular movie comes out when it has.

So to me, it is very important. Crucial, even. We need to understand the history of the Holocaust, of how something like that was possible. These days, too many people seem to have forgotten history and, let's face it, nowhere in any advanced society has the history of the Holocaust been so largely forgotten and/or misunderstood as it has here in the United States. To me, that is why so many people seem to scoff at any comparisons between Trump and monsters of the past. That is why he gets away with so damn much, when he has a hard time criticizing outright Nazis and white supremacists in Charlotteville a few years ago, or when he posts a supporter shouting "White power!" as he did during the 2020 campaign, or when he suggests that parts of the Constitution might need to be suspended, as he did on his Truth Social in 2022, or now that he has very recently called for the execution of political opposition. Too many people are dismissing all of this as inconsequential, or "Trump being Trump."

This is dangerous and, frankly, unprecedented territory that we find ourselves in here in the United States. Sometimes, it feels to me already that our democracy is a thing of the past. Yet we need to keep reminding ourselves that Trump is only as powerful as the American people allow him to be. And the time to stand up to all of this is now, not later. Not when his power is even more entrenched. 

At the very end, the movie moves away from Nazis and the Holocaust, and turns instead to the doctor, who wrote a book that did very poorly. He wrote about the high-ranking Nazis

So I highly recommend this movie.