'Nuremberg' Director on New Film, Legacy of Trials 80 Years Later

In this special episode, Playtone executive and producer Kirk Saduski interviews Nuremberg director James Vanderbilt and the film's historical advisor Michael Berenbaum, as well as best-selling author Donald Miller and historian Rebecca Erbelding.

The new film Nuremberg follows the story of the Allies, led by the unyielding chief prosecutor, Robert H. Jackson (Michael Shannon), as they endeavor to ensure the Nazi regime answers for the unveiled horrors of the Holocaust—all while a US Army psychiatrist (Rami Malek) is locked in a dramatic psychological duel with former Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring (Russell Crowe).

The film is based on the book The Nazi and the Psychiatrist by Jack El-Hai.

Complicity is Part of the Crime

I am a US Army veteran and a lawyer, and I’ve been fascinated by the Nuremberg trials since I learned how unusual they were, and what an achievement. There were basic logistics (finding a place to hold a very large and lengthy trial in a destroyed Europe) and extraordinary advances in legal principles (writing and enforcing laws that the first time held individual responsible for crimes against humanity).

I was going to watch “Nuremberg” at some point, but I’m not usually a see a movie-in-the-theatre person. The movie looked so good I decided I would go to an opening weekend for the first time in decades.

It was better than I imagined, and this episode of “World War II On Topic” dove deep into why it was so excellent. Writer and Director James Vanderbilt extensively researched the movie, which is based on Jack El-Hai’s 2013 book, “The Nazi and the Psychiatrist: Hermann Göring, Dr. Douglas M. Kelley and a Fatal Meeting of the Minds at the End of WWII.” Until this movie, to me, Göring was an abstract evil archetype. I didn’t understand how he ended up with so much power. Russell Crowe was cast first, and Crowe’s Göring charms so many people, especially Rami Malek’s Douglas M. Kelley. Michael Birnbaum, the film’s historical advisor, is part of this podcast and he was committed to accuracy for the movie - and to justice for the world.

“Nuremberg” contains actual footage of film taken by the OSS (the precursor to the CIA) when concentration camps were liberated that was used at trial. I’d seen some of it in history classes, but what I saw must have been edited because I never would have forgotten what I saw in this movie. There’s a discussion of what Vanderbilt did to present the footage and capture the reactions of actors and extras who probably hadn’t seen it either. Seeing and witnessing events hits you in a different way than reading it.

This podcast is well worth the listen, and an excellent companion to the movie.