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Average Customer Review
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Important film about the Holocaust, Dec 20 2001
By A Customer
This film dramatizes the Nuremberg trials, and does so magnificentally. The film's message is vital, and still pertinent now in modern times. The high-power cast all put in performances that mesmerize. Dietrich and Tracey both act with tenderness and humanity (sorely needed in a film like this), while Lancaster and Schnell pull off two difficult roles--essentially playing the "villains" of the story--but that is what is so amazing about this film--it ask you to decide who's guiltly or not. While the aforementioned actors give great performances, two standout in a dual of brilliant cameos: Montgomery Clift, as a camp survivor, and Judy Garland as a woman who allegedly had an affair with a Jew. The two tragic actors stop the show, and steal the film, with emotions so raw-it's difficult to watch. Garland, in particular is powerful in the film, brining in dignity, defiance, grief and anger to a role that amouts to twenty minutes--yet, she is devastating. She doesn't sing a note, but still matches her performance from "A Star is Born," with strong emotions. Clift obviously feels the pain, just as Garland did, and watching his scenes are also difficult, because of the naked vulnerability in them.
THe film is wisely shot in Black and white, and even at three hours, does not drag. This would be a good film to watch in high schools.
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A Stunning Movie, Dec 5 2001
I have only seen this movie once, and I only wish to see it once. It is a terrific, terrific movie--one of the most unflinching and riviting movies I have ever seen. But it is a very difficult movie to watch. Once is enough; I feel as though I have been run through a ringer.Three small things bother me: First, Stanley Kramer's directing is often times stunning, startlingly so. But in a few very prominent cases it is distracting, especially during the 360 degree courtroom shots. Second, the script has an annoying habit of tying scenes together with visual puns. For instance, there is a scene in which Marlene Dietrich begins to pour a cup of coffee which quickly cuts to another scene where a fellow finishes pouring his cup of coffee. I find this habit odd and unnecessary. This is a serious work of art--and a highly successful work of art. It does not benefit much at all from such pointless cleverness: the subject matter does not call for bludgening the viewer with visual puns. Third, I cannot stand William Shatner's performance. It is hollow and unconvincing. This is a small matter, however, in light of the rest of the movie. Aside from these really quite small objections--annoyances, really--I found the movie to be practically irreproachable. It is a film everyone ought to see: an amazing achievement as an artwork and also as a document. It handles the complexities of these trials, and the confused emotional atmosphere that went with them, to incredible vicarious affect. I recommend this movie without significant reservation to absolutely anyone--we all must consider the questions that this movie raises if we are ever really to move beyond the twentieth century.
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They don't make films like that any more.., Nov 14 2001
It's been years since I saw this film, but much of it is still vivid in my mind.
The theme of the film is the impact of grand political ideas on ordinary people. We see the initial, instinctive isolationism of the American trial judge; the impact of war on an old, aristocratic military family in Germany; the patriotism of the Nazi-abhorring German defence counsel, who sees a 'not guilty' verdict as a victory for Germany's struggle to regain its self-respect; and the character of Ernst Janning, the incorruptible judge who saw the world around him go mad.
So how do you navigate your way through a moral maze when the old ideas of right and wrong have been turned on their head? This is not just a question for post-war Germany and Japan, or for post-communist eastern Europe, or for Muslims who try to reconcile their religion with the essentially anti-religious philosophy of Europe and North America: it is a question for all of us.
There is no easy answer. If we ignore our consciences and go along with the crowd, we can end up committing monstrous crimes; if we ignore the crowd and keep ourselves pure, we contribute to the atomisation of society and the breakdown of any form of common culture.
The only real way out is to involve ourselves in the way our societies are run, and argue our case in the marketplace of ideas.
Heavy stuff. It is a tribute to Kramer and his actors that they could inspire such thinking in a mainstream, Hollywood film.
This is a film you'll remember for the rest of your life.
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Probably the best movie I have ever seen, Sep 20 2001
This movie asks the question how can good people be swayed so much by society that they refuse to see the cruelty and injustice of their actions. I can not help but remember Aristotle's saying, "We are by nature social beings." This movie brings home that even the most extraordinary human beings can rarely be independent of the societies in which they live.
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A touching and brilliantly acted film,, Aug 28 2001
Judgement at Nuremberg is not only a brilliantly scripted and directed film, but also a masterclass in acting. Maximillian that does not appear dated in terms of its morality or ethics, despite the 40 years that have eclipsed since its production. Schell gives an Oscar winning performances as Herr Rolf, who struggles in vain to defend Nazism. While Spencer Tracy is equally convincing as the Judge. Yet it is perhaps Montgomery Clift and Burt Lancaster that give the most touching performances, as both are playing atypical characters; Clift indeed giving the performance of his career. Judgement at Nuremberg is a film that grafts itself (and rightly so) on to the viewers imagination, with the real holocaust films as graphic and disturbing now as they were in 1961.
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A great film about the War-Crime trials., April 5 2001
With an all star cast, Judgment at Nuremberg certainly delivers with powerful acting and great directing by Stanley Kramer.
Burt Lancaster portrays one of four-nazi judges convicted of war crimes at the Nuremberg trials. The year is 1948, two years since the main Nuremberg trials concluded and 3 years since World War 2 ended. Throughout the film, mention is made of the cold war. The invasion of Czechoslovakia and the Berlin Airlift are mentioned. Also, Emil Hahn (Played by Werner Klemperer, the future Colonel Klink) states, after he is sentenced, "...Tomorrow the Bolsheviks sentence you!" Speaking of perfromances, fine performances are also given by just about the entire cast, from Spencer Tracy as Judge Dan Heywood, to Montgomery Clift playing Rudolph Peterson, a victim of nazi atrocities. Judy Garland and Marlene Dietrich also give great performances. But it is Lancaster, Richard Widmark and Maxmilian Schell (Who won an Oscar for Best Actor) who steal the show.
In addition to everything listed above, the film's music fits it like a glove. The cinematography is also good. In addition, this version also includes the original theatrical trailer.
This is definately one of my ten favorites and deserves a spot in the collection of any film buff (It has a spot in mine).
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First Rate Drama of Historical Trials -- A Masterpiece!, Jul 28 2000
This star-studded film vividly captures the characters on all 3 sides of the spectrum: The accused, the victims, and the international tribunal judging the perpetrators of unspeakable atrocities against fellow human beings. It is shocking to see how many of the people responsible for the gruesome deaths of millions justified their actions. After hearing witnesses who often were tortured, mamed by sadistic doctors, and had their loved ones murdered, I can not grasp the fact that the majority of those on trial were released after serving minimal prison terms. Some of them are still among us, while millions of victims lie in their graves at the hands of an evil minority! -- I recommend this film to be shown to high school classes as a reminder that these things happened in a not so distant past.
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A Numbing But Unforgettable Depiction Of The War Trials!, Jul 8 2000
This is truly an astonishing movie. After seeing it one wonders that Spencer Tracy did not win the Academy Award for his performance here. Of course, another actor in the cast, Maxmillian Schell, playing the German defense attorney, did! In many ways the movie is the senior brother to "Schindler's List", acting to probe thoughtfully through the mist of euphemisms, excuses and exaggerations of the era. And sifting out some remarkable, memorable, and noble notions about what human beings should be held responsible for in terms of their social attitudes, civic behavior and public actions. Ostensibly, the action takes place after the more sensational trials of the Nazi hierarchy, when the public appetite for blood, revenge, and harsh justice had been somewhat abated. Tracy plays a relatively obscure retired rural American judge called upon to act as one of the three presiding judges in overseeing the trials of prominent German jurists who had co-operated, collaborated, and then presided over the gradual civil drift from a nation whose conduct and laws were based on a corpus of jurisprudence to one characterized by crackpot eugenic policies, blatant racism, & officially-sanctioned violence and mayhem. Burt Lancaster plays a pre-eminent German judge, one famed for his legal treatises and international reputation as a jurist. Through the prism of the testimony of both the judges on trial and their cross examination by a zealous American military prosecutor played masterfully by a young Richard Widmark, the viewer begins to understand much more about the slippery slope most of the jurists had unwittingly embarked upon. Add into this equation the introduction of a sensational set of key witnesses played by Judy Garland and Montgomery Clift, and the full emotional impact and profound significance of what these judges had allowed to happen truly gels. This is an unforgettable and remarkably unique movie, truly a classic and cautionary tale based on the historical record of what the Germans did to each other, based on fact. And by the way, be sure to listen carefully to the final several scenes in which Tracy takes full advantage of several opportunities to cut through all the equivocations, half-truths, and "honest mistake" nonsense, literally electrifying the screen with the power of his monologue and his superb acting. He was truly one of a kind, too. Wow! Don't miss this
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SCHELL, TRACY, GARLAND, LANCASTER, CLIFT & WIDMARK GREAT!, May 6 2000
This is a superb film by Stanley Kramer with an unbelievably great cast at the height of their craft. Each of the legendary actors were at the top of their performances in the reinactment of the Judge's Trial at Nuremberg. The world was tired of the Nuremberg trials. This one was a mopping up operation. Against a backdrop of an escalating Cold War with the Soviet Union, the selling out of justice by prominent Nazi judges serving the Third Reich is put on trial. Spencer Tracey plays Judge Dan Haywood, a retired Maine circuit court judge brought out of mothballs to serve as the chief justice. Amazingly, the usual action actor Burt Lancaster plays the top Nazi judge who at first does not recognize the Nuremberg tribunal's authority to judge him. For some mysterious reason, critics over the years failed to acknowledge the tremendous acting job he did in convincingly carrying off what was perhaps this film's most dynamic character change. However, my personal favorite was Maximillian Schell whose quintessential Germanic Hans Rolfe, the defense attorney released the full range of this incredible actor's virtuosity. For this he deservedly won an Academy Award Oscar. One thousand words are not enough to celebrate this timeless film: Judy Garland (in perhaps her last film role) delivers a heartbreaking middle aging Irene Hoffman, reliving her experiences of Nazi cruelty on the witness stand; once again. However, not very good was the young Canadian actor, William Shatner playing Army Captain Byers, the aide de camp to Judge Haywood (Tracy). [The Starship Enterprise didn't seem to improve Shatner's skills any.] Richard Widmark (the moody, hostile prosecutor) and Montgomery Clift [who begged for the role he was willing to play without pay!] were excellent. Clift plays a slightly retarded German laborer, sterilized by Nazi doctors because of his mental slowness. This is among the very best films made by Kramer in the decade of the 1960s. Amazingly, it was released one year after INHERIT THE WIND, another Tracy-Kramer classic!
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UNFORGETTABLE, Jan 4 2000
As compelling and important as this movie is as a piece of filmmaking and of history, for me, the rare treat here are a handful of unusual performances by stars we have seen before. Maximillian Schell is simply dazzling as the prosecutor, and deserved the Oscar; Judy Garland will blow you away with a performance, complete with accent, that is unlike anything you have ever seen from her before, and Marlene Dietrich is exceptional in her key moments on screen. While the parade of faces continues throughout this lengthy and absorbing movie, it is these three that pushed it from four stars to five for me.
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