Judgment at Nuremberg

This film is set three years after the end of WWII. It is a fictionalised account of the trials that took place in Nuremberg after the end of the war. Which is to say, there were trials in Nuremberg, but the characters in this one are fictional. At this time, most of the important Nazi leaders had already been tried, and people were losing interest in these trials. So Chief Judge Dan Haywood, a retired American judge, is sent to Germany to preside over this particular trial which has four German judges facing charges for crimes against humanity.

Certain political and military figures are coming down hard on Haywood, claiming that in the interest of putting the past behind them and looking forward to cooperating with the Germans (the Cold War was just heating up), he should let the world forget about the past. Dan Haywood and his fellow judges on the tribunal then have to figure out the right thing to do.

In the role of Dan Haywood, we see Spencer Tracy. And if you look through the cast list, it’s a rather impressive collection of names: Burt Lancaster, Richard Widmark, Marlene Dietrich, Maximilian Schell, Judy Garland, Montgomery Clift, even William Shatner has a small part.

And sure enough, the performances are mostly excellent. Lancaster isn’t given much to do, but is strong and affecting in his role as one of the German judges on trial. Widmark plays the prosecuting colonel and Schell plays the defending German lawyer. I did like Widmark a lot, but I found that Schell (who won an Oscar for his role) was a little bit over the top sometimes (he shouts a lot). The rest of the cast is dependable, with one exception: I thought Judy Garland was horrible.

Anyway, most of the movie plays out in the courtroom. At the beginning, there is both English and German spoken, but a smooth transition is made to English pretty early on. We get to see the trial play out, but we also follow Haywood around as he gets to know Nuremberg and the people who live there. These scenes make for a nice break from the courtroom scenes, and at three hours, the movie needs them.

Technically, it’s also impressive. The camera does a lot of long swooping motions around the courtroom, and fast zooms to closeups emphasize the claustrophobic tension in the room.

I also want to mention one particular scene. Widmark’s colonel shows footage from one of the concentration camps. It is actual footage, and it is the most horrifying thing I have ever seen in my life. I’m still shaking from them. They will break your heart and make you sick, so be ready for it.

I loved how Kramer managed stay away from making it a black-and-white, cut-and-dried, good versus evil movie. Everything is in shades of grey, and I felt thoroughly conflicted a lot of the time. Kudos to him and his actors.

It’s perhaps a little bit dated, but this is a movie everyone should see. Truly harrowing, but so worth it.