This film is not making efficient use of the "what if" idea of Mengele's return from exile to stand trial for his Auschwitz crimes in order to explain his motives, but it's a stellar lesson in character acting by Götz George. He also co-produced the film because few wanted to be associated with this content, and while reception outside Germany was positive, it was vehemently criticized in the country for giving Mengele a human side. George gives his best performance next to his tour de force as Fritz Haarmann in "The Deathmaker" (1995). He had also portrayed Auschwitz camp commander Rudolf Höss in "Death is my Trade" (1979), and his father was Nazi collaborator actor Heinrich George who died in Sachsenhausen after the Russians repurposed the camp.
The film came out after Goldhagen's book "Hitler's willing Helpers" caused a moralistic frenzy which still dominates German politics 25 years later and has been dwelt upon in documentaries ever since. The static courtroom dynamic neutralizes the horrific crimes described, and the film would be much stronger if it maintained emotional distance. Unfortunately a sappy soundtrack trivializes the witness statements and the script lapses into sentimentality, but one cannot expect else from director Richter, who rose to fame with romantic comedies.
The weakest point of the film is that Mengele's special relationship with racial biology as the medical advisor of Auschwitz's Gypsy camp is not mentioned. There is testimony of Sinti survivors in the 2011 documentary "A People uncounted" which clearly proves that Mengele enjoyed torturing children, and the definitive monography on the Gypsy Holocaust "Racial Utopia and Genocide" was available at the time. While there is a lot of historical context in the script, but that makes it all the more clear that the writers did not know that particular book, which is a ruesome oversight (as is the silence on Birkenau B in general).
So this is definitely worth seeing for Götz George, one of the most underrated German actors, but neither the director nor the screenplay make full use of the film's premise. Particularly the ending is a disappointing descent into kitsch.
