After surrendering to the US Army in Salzburg, in May 1945, Hermann Göring (Russell Crowe), Adolf Hitler’s second in command, imperiously orders the soldiers to get his bags, setting the tone for his dealings with the Allied powers.
Nuremberg (English)
Director: James Vanderbilt
Starring: Rami Malek, Russell Crowe, Leo Woodall, John Slattery, Mark O’Brien, Colin Hanks, Michael Shannon, Richard E. Grant
Runtime: 148 minutes
Storyline: At the Nuremberg trial, an Army psychiatrist is brought in to monitor the mental health of the accused Nazi leadership, sparking a battle of wills between the doctor and Hermann Göring
Runtime: 148 minutes
American Justice Robert H. Jackson (Michael Shannon) with a little help from powerful friends, including a reluctant Vatican, decides to set up an international court comprising the governments of Russia, France, Great Britain and the United States, to try “what is left of the Nazi high command.” He feels it is important, “This war is in a courtroom. The world needs to know what these men did so it can never happen again.”
The choice of venue for the trial, Nuremberg, is significant as that is where on September 15, 1935, the Nuremberg Laws, which stripped German Jews of their rights, were passed. With many of the Nazi top leadership committing suicide, Army psychiatrist, Douglas Kelley (Rami Malek), is brought in to monitor the 22 Nazi prisoners’ state of mind.
Kelley and Göring are immediately involved in a fascinating battle of wills. “I am a prisoner because we lost and you won, not because you are morally superior,” Göring snaps. He is able to get under Kelley’s skin when he says, “just because a man is your ally doesn’t mean he’s on your side.”
Göring’s explanation for following Hitler after hearing him speak just once, because “he made us feel German again,” is unnervingly simple.
Kelley recognises Göring as “highly intelligent, charming and a narcissist.” He also sees that far from being particularly demonic or barbaric, the Nazis are a product of their times and there is nothing stopping the same happening anywhere and anytime in the world under similar circumstances. It is a chilling prophecy, as we all know from a cursory reading of headlines across the globe.
Nuremberg is driven by the extraordinary performances of the ensemble cast. Malek telegraphs Kelley’s empathy, ambition, and despair through his eyes, while Crowe embodies Göring as the “face of the Nazi party,” the Reichsmarschall who signed off on the extermination of a people. He is also a doting father to Edda (Fleur Bremmer) and loving husband to Emmy (Lotte Verbeek).
Shannon is a personification of relentless justice, a man who wants to do right by his conscience and society. Howie Triest (Leo Woodall), the US Army officer who serves as translator (though Göring at first pretends not to understand or speak English), makes an acute observation when he tells Kelley, “You want to know why it happened here? Because people let it happen.”
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John Slattery as the commandant of the Nuremberg Prison, Burton C. Andrus, is perfect as the man who wishes to get things done, while Colin Hanks as psychiatrist Gustave Gilbert, who is brought in for a second opinion after questions are raised about Kelley’s objectivity, imbues his character with the desire to do the right thing. Richard E. Grant as David Maxwell Fyfe, one of the prosecuting counsels at the Nuremberg trials, fixes us with his glittering eye.
Based on Jack El-Hai’s 2013 book, The Nazi and the Psychiatrist, Nuremberg is riveting for the performances, Dariusz Wolski’s vivid frames and its message, which is more current now than ever before.
Nuremberg is currently running in theatres
Published – November 08, 2025 07:33 pm IST
