Das Gericht der Völker

Soviet produced look at the trials that followed the fall of Germany.

Deadly serious, this film is almost too somber to be taken with a straight face since the narration often comes across as rather preachy and purple. Its pure propaganda in the "we were right to try these people" sort of way and is clearly biased against the defendants who had just set Europe aflame. The take is rather odd and unlike any thing that I've run across in American or in Western European films on the same subject. It seems to be trying to over explain why the leaders of Germany were tried, which in retrospect is painfully obvious. Its clear from the lean toward the Soviet take of events and of its lingering on the speeches by the Soviet prosecutors who was behind the film. Its not bad but the heavy handedness of the presentation becomes wearing after a while.

If you keep in mind when the film was made its an intriguing look at how the events were viewed during their own historical period. However its probably too long at an hour, with its ponderous preaching taking away from any value the film might have had.

Nuremberg Trials (1947)

** (out of 4)

There were dozens if not hundreds of documentaries that were made back in the 40s that discussed various aspects of WWII. Some of the biggest directors in Hollywood like John Ford and John Huston made their mark on this, at the time, new genre. After the war was over the documentaries continued as we saw what the aftermath was and the subject of this one is the Nuremberg trials where dozens of Nazi officers went on trial for war crimes.

There's two ways to judge this documentary and many like it. On one hand, it contains 100% actual footage from the trial as well as footage from the crime scenes, which makes it somewhat special. This footage is never easy to watch and there are some graphic images here of dead bodies including some people that were turned into soap. All of this is used to explain or preach why these men must be either killed or thrown into prison.

The second way to judge this is by the fact that it tries to hard to get its message across. I say this because the crimes themselves are enough to make people understand yet this documentary offers up some very over-the-top narration, which beats the viewer in the head with its message. What's worse is the fact that there's a very, very annoying music score that is constantly being overplayed to try and add even more drama. These two things really weren't needed but it's here and it makes the documentary a chore to sit through.

The propaganda agenda is clearly seen in the preachy tone that tells you what to believe.