God on Trial

Films set in Nazi extermination camps are always confronted by certain production problems. Will the Jews look thin enough? Will they look like they're eaten by lice and other vermin? How to convey their interaction in such a wretched and desperate place? A place that most of us cannot begin to imagine. This drama succeeded (against my expectations) because it doesn't feel naturalistic. Of course Anthony Sher and Stellan Skarsgård and the others look like well-fed actors. But this does not detract from their performances because the emphasis in this film is on the arguments. How can anyone affirm a belief in God in Auschwitz? It's a good question, and many approaches and interpretations of God's actions are offered. The production could be criticised for feeling a little like a stage play. A bit wordy with many monologues. But the acting, the direction, and, above all, the writing are first class.

Most television dramas are a complete waste of time. This is not the case with God on Trial which is one of the best films I have ever seen on TV. The questions asked throughout the 84 minutes are right on target. A group of prisoners at Auschwitz; some of whom are awaiting execution, the others unsure of their fate, debate the meaning of God's supposed covenant with the Jewish people.

I am not Jewish & I don't believe any one group of people are chosen above all others because of their religion. I was told that the Catholic Church was the one true one in my childhood. Muslims are taught that Allah is the true path. Hindus believe in another God. It leads us all on a dangerous path.

This film is made for people not afraid to search within themselves no matter what they believe. I was very impressed.

at first sigh, a lesson. about Shoah, faith, Judaism, resistance, hope. at the second - seductive film with a splendid performance of each actor. in fact - only a form of definition of sense in a Nazi camp. a form of fight for survive. the atmosphere, the dialogs, the tension of acting. all as parts of an admirable circle. a story who may be a parable. but, in essence, it is only slice of reality. and not just reality of Holocaust but measure of each day from each life. a terrible film. for its questions and for the images from a hell. and for precise - delicate manner to remember one of many trials in which God was not only defendant but, in same measure, prosecutor.

In a freezing, filthy, overcrowded hut in Auschwitz a group of emaciated Jewish prisoners await their fate. Around half of them will be selected for the gas chamber within a couple of hours and most seem paralysed by fear, hunger and despair - but one angry inmate rails against God. His anger provokes reactions and soon the men - they are all men - agree to put God on trial, quickly organising a kind of tribunal in the traditions of their religion.

This drama confronts one of the central issues of human existence - the basis of faith - and sets it in a time and place that has become a by-word for inhumanity. With writing that is emotive, intelligent and unflinching throughout complimented by a series of utterly convincing and moving performances from all the principals, this was one of the most absorbing and challenging pieces of TV drama I have witnessed in years. In fact I would go further: This ranks as one of the finest TV productions I have ever seen.

For me the almost real time context lifted this play beyond another testimony to the Holocaust. The characters all know the past - indeed, they acknowledge several hideous near genocidal atrocities by their Jewish ancestors - but they don't know the future.

I won't spoil the outcome but, please, seek this out. If it doesn't make you think and doesn't touch your heart, you may not be alive.

an expected film. because it propose a solution to an old doubt. Where was God in the Shoah time ? the film does not gives answers. but it is an impeccable solution of the question who defines the conscience of humanity after the WWII. and this is the huge virtue of film. the realism. the exposure of doubts and slices of certitudes. the need of answer. the entire Jew tradition front to one of the basic fears. and the trial. as a form of prey or as form of exorcism against fear. it is one of films who must be seen by everyone. not for understand. not for know. but for remind. to feel. and to discover the Holocaust more than a Jew problem.