30 January 2026
NUREMBERG ***
This film shows one of the first and most important of the 12 Nuremberg Military Tribunals after WWII. Important, as the trial it covers had some of the top men in Hitler’s inner circle. It included Rudolf Hess, Karl Dönitz and of course the notorious Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring, second-in-command to the Führer, known to be a highly intelligent and audacious man.
Based on the book “The Nazi and the Psychiatrist” by Jack El-Hai, the core of the film is about the complicated relationship between the real-life U.S. Army psychiatrist Douglas Kelley, played by Rami Malek, and Göring, played by Russell Crowe.
Under James Vanderbilt’s script and direction, the film depicts the difficulty of creating this unprecedented international tribunal in 1945, its moral implications, the key figures (all historically correct), and of course the intense trial itself.
Its main drawback is when it goes off into melodramatic moments of some of the characters, which takes away from the seriousness of its historical aspects.
Despite not being a perfect film (unlike its 1961 predecessor, Stanley Kramer’s 1961 masterpiece “Judgement at Nuremberg”), this is one that should not be missed, for the history it covers and for Crowe’s brilliant, Oscar-worthy interpretation of Hermann Göring as he brings out the complexity of the Nazi’s character.
DEUX PROCUREURS ***1/2 (vo Russian)
This dark tale of the tyranny under the murderous rule of Stalin in the 1930s is an apt warning from the past. A young, principled lawyer (Aleksandr Kuznetsov) in an outlying district is investigating a prisoner who has put in a complaint. In lengthy, grey shots of crumbling prison halls, fearsome guards and suspicious officials we are witness to governmental bureaucracy under Stalin’s Russia.
It is a slow yet gripping process. His search for justice takes him finally to the chief public prosecutor in Moscow. So we have the new, eager prosecutor trying to convince his highest boss of the importance of his investigation – a daring feat.
This film by the Ukrainian filmmaker Sergei Loznitza bares the old, corrupt system that typified the decades under Stalin’s power. Chilling.
MERCY (Reconnu coupable) **1/2
If you’re looking for a futuristic thriller, here’s your film. MERCY is a new program created to streamline criminal investigations by locking the accused in an ironclad chair and giving him a certain amount of time and tech support to mount his defence in front of an AI judge (Rebecca Ferguson). If he fails, he is condemned to immediate death.
Chris Pratt plays a police detective who is accused of killing his wife. He has 90 minutes to prove his innocence. The clock starts.
This taut scenario of future follies, directed by the Kazakh/Russian Timur Bekmambetov is for aficionados of dystopian crime stories.
Superb **** Very Good *** Good ** Mediocre * Miserable – no stars
By Neptune
Neptune Ravar Ingwersen reviews film extensively for publications in Switzerland. She views 4 to 8 films a week and her aim is to sort the wheat from the chaff for readers.
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