Nuremberg (M) – 149 minutes

Warning: this review contains distressing content

Holocaust deniers should be made to sit with an audience of Jewish survivors to witness the horrors in the film Nuremberg.

Specifically, I speak of deeply traumatising, black and white footage of corpses piled high, like animal carcases, being shunted by a bulldozer.

Its unmistakable impact is that of a sledgehammer. 

That is but one of the unfathomable revulsions in an excellent film about the landmark, world-focused trial held in Nuremberg against Nazi leaders.

It is 1945 and the chief protagonist is the second in charge to Adolf Hitler, Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring, played by an accented Russell Crowe.

What I found so difficult to take was the smugness in Crowe’s characterisation, great that his representation is.

Not only was that apparent in the way he carried himself, but in the smirk that went with it.

It is so distressing because it was Göring who authorised millions to be sent to their wretched deaths.

This is a man who is shown to care deeply for his wife and child, but is totally dismissive of six million Jews who were brutally starved and slaughtered.

Nuremberg tells the story of Göring’s incarceration and trial, along with that of several fellow high ranking Nazi officials.

It does so through the lens of an army psychiatrist brought in to “get into Göring’s head” and the impact that had on the former.

His name is Lt. Colonel Douglas Kelley (Rami Malek), engaged to evaluate the Nazi king pin’s psychological fitness.

When Kelley is summoned to the bombed out German city, he has no idea of the nature of his assignment.

There to assist, as a German-speaking translator, is Sergeant Howie Triest (Leo Woodall).

In charge of the Nuremberg prison, where the captured Nazis are held, is no nonsense Colonel Burton C. Andrus (John Slattery).

His major dictate is to ensure Göring and others are prevented from committing suicide.

Among those in the spotlight is the lead prosecutor, US Supreme Court Associate, Justice Robert H. Jackson (Michael Shannon).

What went down at Nuremberg after the war had never been seen before.

It was the first trial in history for “crimes against the peace of the world” and was only possible because of a historic collaboration between the Allies.

Written and directed by James Vanderbilt (Zodiac), Nuremberg has been adapted from Jack El Hai’s non-fiction work The Nazi and the Psychiatrist (2013).

The film is a powerful psychological drama cum thriller, which leaves an indelible imprint.

You feel the weight of expectation on the key players, primarily the Americans, but also the British, to get this right.

By that, I mean ensuring, as far as possible, a successful prosecution … and that starts with the psychological evaluation.

The movie highlights the litany of costly mistakes and tactical blunders made along the way.

Crowe is assured in representing Göring’s single minded narcissism, as he forms a friendship with the psychiatrist (which, I should quickly add, is mighty hard to countenance).

Malek navigates a tricky role, in which he is asked to elicit empathy and revulsion, with aplomb. He presents as a tormented figure.

Woodall earns his stripes with a bravura showing in a single scene, in which we learn about Sergeant Howie Triest’s background.

Like Malek, Shannon walks an unsteady line as a man with a broader personal agenda, who quickly realises he has his work cut out to bring down Göring.

Slattery is strong and resolute – mission driven – throughout as the Colonel who engages the psychiatrist.

Nuremberg shows the lengths the Allies went to and the toll it took to try to bring to account those leading the atrocities perpetrated by the Nazis.

Two and a half hours in length, it is a film that needs to be seen.

Rated M, it scores an 8½ out of 10.