Wannsee Conference, the

There were fourteen men there and one stenographer, an attractive woman who the leader flirted with throughout. Her notes of that day were later discovered in Nazi archives and much of the dialog was recreated verbatim. It all seemed like a business meeting, complete with one-upmanship and power struggles between the men. They ate fine food and drank cognac, made crude jokes and clashed with one another on minor issues. But they were all united in wanting the Jews, which by this time included Jews in all their conquered territories, exterminated.

Adolph Eichman is portrayed as a junior officer in charge of the complicated logistics of the operation. And the meeting is being held to engage the participants in a shared responsibility for it all, the result being pre-determined by higher officials, which nobody was about to question. The only exception is a middle-aged minor official from an interior ministry with a bad case of the flu, who brings up the issue of what to do with half-Jews and quibbles about their degree of racial purity.

Although the film shows only uniformed officers around a dinner table, I couldn't help my mind's eye from remembering other horrific newscast images. The cast spoke German and the subtitles were hard to read, as they didn't show up well against the color background. But it was more than the actual words that were important. It was the gestures, the silences, the facial expressions - and of course the very sound of the German language - that made it all real, much too real. There was a glimpse of the discipline and formality of the moment, as well as the crudeness of the men who were all intent on seizing Jewish property and who made jokes about how the Jews who had escaped to France had nothing more of value than cardboard suitcases.

This was a fine film, recapturing a horrible moment in history. It's so well done that it seems real, and that makes it extremely uncomfortable to watch. As a matter of fact, I was so disturbed that I actually thought of turning it off and not watching it all the way though. But I was hooked on the excellent acting, fine screenplay and great camerawork that focused on one man's face after another. I therefore give it an extremely high recommendation although it is not for the faint of heart.