Film Review: “Nuremberg”

By Stephen Wilson, one of our reporters abroad

“Nuremberg,” 2023, Directed by Nikolai Lebedev.  Stars Sergey Kempo, Lyubov Aksyonova, Evgeniy Mironov.  Russian language.  https://www.imdb.com/title/tt24659372/

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As a superbly scenic and atmospheric film which captures the brooding tension of occupied Germany from 1945 to 1946, “Nuremberg” leaves an indelible impression.  Watching the debris and ruins of Germany on the huge screen is haunting.  You feel that you yourself could even walk through the screen back into post war Germany!  

So there is a 'terrible beauty' about this film.  It works well with a brilliant cast, witty and amusing lines, dramatic scenes, and an intriguing plot.  In the genre of an attractive action-packed spy thriller it's a real winner.  And the Mill and Boons romantics won't be disappointed.  

But as a documentary or a narrative based on the central events of the Nuremberg trials, forget it.  This is largely an epic drama—not a documentary or historical film.  Unfortunately, the film makes the misleading claim that it 'is based on real events.'  

This is an absurd claim!  The directors and producers would do themselves a favor by frankly stating the film is “only loosely-based on historical events.”  It is largely based on a partly, if not wholly, fictionalized script.  

When people notice the huge discrepancy, they will stop taking the cinema seriously.  Any historian who seeks to retain his reputation should avoid consultation with the film industry like the plague.  In general, the aim of those films is to offer lively entertainment which draws a mass audience.  That means dramatizing and sensationalizing events.  

Don't expect too much history from this film or intricate details about the trials.  The label 'historical film' is often an oxymoron.

Despite some reservations, “Nuremberg” is a powerful enough film.  It is never slow or dull.  The plot of the film is about an idealistic translator soldier Igor Volgin {Sergei Kempo} who declares "I help break down barriers between people rather than fight them."  After fighting in the Battle of Berlin he hears reports that his lost brother, Nicoli, an artist, might be  in Nuremberg.  He was a prisoner of war.  So Igor begins an odyssey to find him.  His commander {Yevgeni Mironov} scolds him for spending too much time looking for his brother and not focusing on his work as a translator at the trials.

During his travels Igor encounters all kinds of odd characters such as taciturn, timid and angry Germans.  He meets an enigmatic and attractive Russian woman called Lena {Lubov Aksenova}. She is a former forced laborer.  Although she attempts to help Igor find his brother, he remains suspicious of her.  Is this frail and fragile woman a traitor who is secretly working for the Nazis?  Is she a double agent or a hostage?  

And can Igor, who has fallen in love with her, really trust her?  What if she leads him into a trap?  Part of the suspense of the film lies with the unknowns such as “Will Igor finally find his brother?  Will Lena betray him?  Will they both die?”

I won't give any spoilers.  

By the way, many Russian films have very sad endings.  But my lips are sealed!  Just go and watch the film !

However, the main plot overshadows those events.  A fanatical Nazi manages to free 300 German prisoners of war with the aim of liberating the prisoners at Nuremberg and disrupting the trial.  The aim is to restore Nazi power.  He states, "I won't rest until all the foreigners are removed from German soil."  He kidnaps, kills and blackmails people into serving his aims.

There is humor in the film.  Igor tells his commander that "I speak English, German and a little bit of Russian."  Igor warns his commander of dangerous threats by Nazis and is told by his commander to "Keep out of all this.  Your job is to translate.  We can't mess around with this complicated business.  This is for the security services.  I have enough problems to deal with." 

Then follow ambushes , shootouts, and some ugly confrontations.  Some scenes are comical--especially when an American female soldier makes brazen advances to Igor.  She chats him up and throws her arms around him.  His commander notices this and shoots a suspicious glance at Igor with the woman as if to say, "Hey, what is going on here?"

As for the scenes of the Nuremberg trials one of the most convincing roles is the part of Herman Goring.  In contrast to most of the accused, Goring came across as having a lively and striking personality.  If you looked at him during the trial he could shoot back a glance at you with an amiable and warm smile.  

As in real life, Goring is the main person trying to turn the trial into a stage for defending the Nazis.  There are scenes where the wife visits Goring in prison and slyly hands him a poisonous pill with which he later kills himself.  The director of the film Nikoli Lebedev has stated that "The accused on the benches of this courthouse were namely people and not monsters from another planet.  Our hero in this film tries to understand why people act like this so that those events won't be repeated."

Concerning the trial there is a scene where the Nazis defend themselves by claiming that Germany invaded Russia as a preventive measure to thwart an imminent Soviet invasion.  The prosecutor Roman Rodenko {Sergei Bezrukov} brings to the court the star witness General Von Paulus of the 6th Army to counter this claim, with him stating the attack on the Soviet Union was well-planned in advance.  

In one grotesque scene the prosecutor lays bare some of the horrors of the Nazis when he displays lampshades, purses and items made from the human skin of dead prisoners.  A grisly severed head kept in a preserved jar is shown.  The audience gasp in horror.

The film avoids the controversy surrounding this trial.  

The facts are that the vast majority of Nazis evaded justice and were not prosecuted or imprisoned.  In fact, many of them were allowed to work for the allies in heading the post construction of Germany so as to help them pursue a new cold war.  The Nazis were wrongly accused of the Katyn forest massacre of Polish soldiers which was actually carried about the Soviets.  

You can also detect a degree of bitterness at the end of the film when the figures of British and military casualties are contrasted with the huge Russian casualties.  Whereas the number of deaths of British soldiers was less than half a million the Soviets lost an estimated 27 million. Russians wouldn't disagree with the English historian A.J. P. Taylor's claim that "The British stand in September 1939 was no doubt heroic, but it was heroism at the expense of others.  The British people suffered comparatively little during six years of war.” {page 26, The Origins of the Second World War, A .J. P. Taylor, Penguin , London, 1959}.  

Despite the fact that many Russians are still bitter about how late the rest of the allies were about launching the second front while Russia faced the main brunt of the German forces, the American soldiers are largely portrayed as nice , kind and helpful. They help Igor to fight the Nazis.

In one scene Igor tells a Nazi "Put down your gun. The war is over." But the Nazi goes ahead and shoots Igor. For some, the second world war was never finished.

Enough talk ! I strongly recommend this film. Go and see it for yourself!