In the aftermath of WWII, there was an effort to get into the mind of the Nazi prisoners, to find out what makes them tick, and if they are psychologically fit to stand trial. James Vanderbilt’s historical film Nuremberg stars a pair of Oscar winners, Russell Crowe as Hitler’s right-hand-man Hermann Göring, with Rami Malek as the tragic psychiatrist Douglas Kelley, who interviews him ahead of the Nuremberg Trials.
Written and directed by Vanderbilt, the film is based on Jack El-Hai’s 2013 book The Nazi and the Psychiatrist. Also in the cast are Michael Shannon, Leo Woodall, Richard E. Grant, John Slattery, Mark O’Brien, Colin Hanks, Lydia Peckham, and Wrenn Schmidt as real-life key figures during this moment in history.
SYNOPSIS: The Allies, led by the unyielding chief prosecutor, Robert H. Jackson (Michael Shannon), have the task of ensuring the Nazi regime answers for the unveiled horrors of the Holocaust, while a US Army psychiatrist (Rami Malek) is locked in a dramatic psychological duel with former Reichsmarschall Herman Göring (Russell Crowe).
Vanderbilt is always busy as a screenwriter, having recently penned Abigail, Fountain of Youth, Murder Mystery 2, and the upcoming Scream 7. But this is his first movie as director since 2015’s journalism drama Truth.
Nuremberg opens in theaters on November 7th by Sony Pictures Classics. And it’s another film that’ll be featured at the Middleburg Film Festival next week.
