Yes, the story of the Nuremberg War Crimes Tribunal needs to be told so that it's never forgotten. Yes, this miniseries provides a dignified and multifaceted retelling. But it isn't quite the masterpiece it should have been. Alec Baldwin is adequate as white knight Bob Jackson, Brian Cox is impressive as king-in-exile Hermann Goering, but neither are particularly compelling. What could have been a powerful character study and an exploration of the nature of evil ends up becoming a rote-by-rote reenactment of the events.
The story itself is powerful enough, but the screenplay doesn't try to take it in any new directions. It too-quickly dismisses Nazism as mere lies and propaganda, only hinting at the darker implication that it might have been the horrific yet inevitable end-product of a century of Eurocentrism, of which all Western nations were guilty to some degree. Only half-heartedly in the last quarter or so does it question whether the Allies pushed for the trials to assuage their own guilt. The still-lingering question about the motivations for the trials in the first place - to establish justice for the world at large or to mask the hypocrisy of the victors? - is barely explored. The film is content to draw the lines of good and bad with bold strokes.
The biggest impacts are made by two supporting characters. The first is the Jewish army psychologist, who struggles with rage at what the Nazis did to his people and the clinical desire to understand them. His analysis of their motivations provides no easy answers (were there any?). The other is the young American soldier who befriends Goering. Drawn to his magnetic personality, he listens to his words and begins to believe them, providing a chilling lesson that evil doesn't die with the man who preaches it.
The film also makes pivotal use of actual concentration camp footage. After fifty years those grainy haunting images are still just as horrifying. They serve as reminders of what happened there and what the Nuremberg trials attempted to ensure would never happen again. It's a lesson that's too-often overlooked. * - 3.5 of 5
The story itself is powerful enough, but the screenplay doesn't try to take it in any new directions. It too-quickly dismisses Nazism as mere lies and propaganda, only hinting at the darker implication that it might have been the horrific yet inevitable end-product of a century of Eurocentrism, of which all Western nations were guilty to some degree. Only half-heartedly in the last quarter or so does it question whether the Allies pushed for the trials to assuage their own guilt. The still-lingering question about the motivations for the trials in the first place - to establish justice for the world at large or to mask the hypocrisy of the victors? - is barely explored. The film is content to draw the lines of good and bad with bold strokes.
The biggest impacts are made by two supporting characters. The first is the Jewish army psychologist, who struggles with rage at what the Nazis did to his people and the clinical desire to understand them. His analysis of their motivations provides no easy answers (were there any?). The other is the young American soldier who befriends Goering. Drawn to his magnetic personality, he listens to his words and begins to believe them, providing a chilling lesson that evil doesn't die with the man who preaches it.
The film also makes pivotal use of actual concentration camp footage. After fifty years those grainy haunting images are still just as horrifying. They serve as reminders of what happened there and what the Nuremberg trials attempted to ensure would never happen again. It's a lesson that's too-often overlooked. * - 3.5 of 5