Dramatisation of the team hoping to televise the trial of Adolf Eichmann, an infamous Nazi responsible for the deaths of millions of Jews. It focuses on Leo Hurwitz, a documentary film-maker... Read allDramatisation of the team hoping to televise the trial of Adolf Eichmann, an infamous Nazi responsible for the deaths of millions of Jews. It focuses on Leo Hurwitz, a documentary film-maker and Milton Fruchtman, a producer.Dramatisation of the team hoping to televise the trial of Adolf Eichmann, an infamous Nazi responsible for the deaths of millions of Jews. It focuses on Leo Hurwitz, a documentary film-maker and Milton Fruchtman, a producer.
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In my prediction this movie with the powerful contents would have easily beaten the 'The Imitation Game', if it was produced grandly and commercialised a bit of narration for the worldwide market. The real video clips of the trial were merged into the movie and that gave a strong effect which allows to realise how those actual occurrences has taken place. Actually, there are some uncensored cuts, which were shocking and disturbing. So pretty much like a semi-documentary, but due to the majority of movie clips that shot with actors and in the sets, it feels like a TV movie as it should be.
"While he watches the footage, we'll be watching him. Only then will we see the real Eichmann."
The performances were ordinary, because the screenplay preferred the main event to display, not the characters and their lifestyle. That makes it is not a biographical picture, though both the lead men were pretty impressive. We had seen many world war 2 and related to it movies, but this one was a different. Because of the story was set 15 years after the end of war. Simple movie, no twists, no developments, but reveals the facts from a different dimension. Because of this show, people around the world and filmmakers understood the cruelty of the Nazi prison camp. The movies those came afterwards about this war were inspired by the events that discussed in the courtroom. So if you are planning for this, expect it to be as what the title says, not a bit more or less.
8/10
The use of real footage from the time is well spliced into dramatic reenactments, and many scenes of concentration camps are incredibly difficult to watch adding to the importance of certain scenes. Overall it is a good representation of the case, however probably doesn't fully do the enormity of the context justice, camera angles just don't feel important given the context.
Anthony LaPaglia is the television director Leo Hurwitz and Martin Freeman is the producer Milton Fruchtman who set about televising what became known at the time as the 'trial of the century' as it was broadcast in 37 countries over four months. It was maybe the first time witnesses described the horrors of the concentration camp to a wider public. As the hotelier, Mrs Landau (Rebecca Front) informs her guest, many people simply could not believe such events had occurred during the second world war.
Although Fruchtman had been given permission to film the trial by the authorities the Judges were uneasy as they felt the television cameras and the noise they made would be a distraction and they set about to hide the cameras or disguise them so they would be intrusive.
The film inter-cuts the black and white real trial footage. The historic documentary footage of the victims of concentration camps is rather distressing. Eichmann is impassive throughout the trial as the footage is shown and witnesses testimony is given.
Its a worthy piece but the drama was rather bland. Of course the historic footage is shocking and sickening, the dramatised parts in contrast failed to enthral me. I felt a better constructed documentary would had told the story better with the historical footage.
You can't help but shed of a tear for all of those survivors and for the victims of these pure evil acts.
I remember vividly seeing the filmed news reports the film depicts and the shock of how ordinary this monster looked.
A good film and worth watching.
Did you know
- TriviaContains real archives footage of the four month trial of nazi officer Adolf Eichmann.
- GoofsThe movie begins by showing scenes from the Battle of Berlin, and a voice notes "September the Second, 1945, the war is over . . . " That's the date of the surrender of Japan. Germany surrendered effective May 8, 1945, and the search for Nazi war criminals began then.
- Quotes
Leo Hurwitz: I don't believe in monsters. But I do believe that men are responsible for monstrous deeds.
- ConnectionsFeatured in The Wright Stuff: Episode #20.15 (2015)
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