My name is Magda, I am 15 years old and I live in Athens but I grew up in Nuremberg, Germany, that’s why this city is very important to me. Moreover, Nuremberg is not only beautiful but also a place of great historical significance since it was there that leading Nazi war criminals were brought to justice after the end of WW2.
So now I would like to talk about NUREMBERG (≈150΄), the film that was released in 2025, a historical/psychological drama directed by James Vanderbilt, the writer of ZODIAC.
Shot in Budapest -ironically- and based on the non-fiction book The Nazi and the Psychiatrist, the film focuses on the months prior to the 1945 trials. Instead of a traditional courtroom drama, it is primarily a battle of wits between Hermann Göring, Hitler΄s second-in-command played by Russell Crowe and Dr. Kelley, an American military psychiatrist played by Rami Malek, who was tasked with evaluating the prisoner. On the one hand, NUREMBERG follows the doctor΄s growing obsession with the nature of evil and the realization that Nazis were disturbingly ordinary, a situation that eventually begins to unravel his own mental health and personal life. On the other hand, Göring is portrayed as a charming, narcissistic manipulator who attempts to use the trial in order to exonerate Hitler, for instance when Kelley forms a rapport with Göring’s wife and daughter, acting as a courier for letters, Göring uses it to manipulate the psychiatrist’s empathy. The film climaxes when the British prosecutor takes over the cross-examination, using Göring’s own vanity to trap him into admitting he knew of the horrors of the Nazi regime. As a result, he is sentenced to death but he commits suicide the night before the execution. Kelley becomes an alcoholic and he also commits suicide 12 years later.
The director uses actual archive footage from the liberation of concentration camps, rapid dialogue and explicit scene exposition while the heavy music enhances the overall atmosphere. Finally, Crowe’s performance is widely considered one of the greatest assets of the film.
Although NUREMBERG did not receive any nominations for the 2026 Academy Awards, I would definitely recommend watching it because it is highly educational and emotionally powerful. All in all, a brilliant way to learn more about the past and at the same time reflect on the world we live in today.
της Μάγδας Μ., Γ΄τάξη (10. Γυμνάσιο Αχαρνών)
