"The idea that evil showcases itself in just a few humans is inconclusive and incredibly inaccurate. Evil is human, human is evil, everyone is a bad day away from being a villain." ~ Seki.
It was one scene that made me decide to watch Nuremberg. A single scene I saw on Instagram, that incredible 40 seconds of acting made me watch a movie that has left an incredible impact on my life.
Perhaps an impact as large as the one the real life incident which the movie is based on left on the world.
5 months after the war against the Nazi ended, the world was greeted with a feast.
A legal and somewhat moral judging of what's left of the group of men who brought terror to the world.
The men who were convicted were like none ever seen before, men so believed to be evil and different that they had to bring in a psychiatrist to check them.
The main character of the movie, the psychiatrist, the hero, Douglas Kelley, made a shocking discovery.
These men, evil as their actions may be, were just men.
The movie felt like what a history documentary should be and even more.
We weren't just taking a look at the past, we were put in there ourselves and made to be part of the audience in the courtroom, taking mental notes and having our own thoughts about these convicts.
The movie initially focuses on the relationship between two men; Dr Douglas Kelley and Hermann Goring.
It is fair to say that this movie was carried by their test of intellects, clash of wills and sincere acting prowess.
I cannot begin to describe the acting genius Rami Malek, it's just beautiful seeing him work. He seemed like the kind of man that genuinely enjoyed being in the scene, he was happy to be there, happy to be a part of the movie and happy to converse—although in character—with a genius of the same caliber but different timeline; Russell Crowe.
The character played by Russelle isn't an easy one to maintain, not by any feat. If anything, Herman Goering can be described as the peak man.
His ever changing principles, his great discipline and the ability to have a big heart, a great drive, patriotism and a sense of responsibility that caused his downfall.
The Reichsmarschall can't be wrong..
This thought process, a product of Goering's discipline, embodies the idea that a leader can't ever second guess his decisions. He can't be allowed to show doubt in what he says.. even if he knows it's a mistake.
This was his fatal flaw and it was what ended him.
In this movie, one thing I noticed was with our protagonist being Dr. Douglass Kelley it seemed at first that there was no antagonist.
No obvious evil person was brought in light, at least to me.
At first, one could say that the Nazi's in trial are the obvious antagonist, but that's not how the movie spinned it and that's what made me love it the more.
The movie tries it's best to bring us as close as possible to these men. Like I said earlier, we were put into there ourselves with Douglas Kelley, meant to make the decision of whether they are villains or not.
It is in all its entirety a trial and we the audience are the judge and jury.
People originally thought that there was something particularly evil about them, yet like Dr Kelley said at the end of the movie.
They are just like ordinary men. The only difference is that they had the means and positions to fulfill their desires.
It's a thriller... Not the type with explosions and cars and high stakes fights, but the type where your brain watches and subconsciously partakes in trying to judge these men without being tricked by the media, their lies and their half truths.
I totally urge any one who has a hint of interest to check it out, you would not be disappointed.
Images unsourced are screenshots from the movie.
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