Synopsis
It is the late 1950s. Flourishing under the economic miracle, Germany grows increasingly apathetic about confronting the horrors of its recent past. Nevertheless, Fritz Bauer doggedly devotes his energies to bringing the Third Reich to justice. One day Bauer receives a letter from Argentina, written by a man who is certain that his daughter is dating the son of Adolph Eichmann. Excited by the promising lead, and mistrustful of a corrupt judiciary system where Nazis still lurk, Bauer journeys to Jerusalem to seek alliance with Mossad, the Israeli secret service. To do so is treason — yet committing treason is the only way Bauer can serve his country.
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Cast
- Burghart KlaußnerFritz Bauer
- Ronald ZehrfeldKarl Angermann
- Sebastian BlombergUlrich Kreidler
- Jörg SchüttaufPaul Gebhardt
- Lilith StangenbergVictoria
- Laura TonkeMs. Schütt
- Götz SchubertGeorg-August Zinn
- Cornelia GröschelCharlotte Angermann
- Robert AtzornCharlottes Father
- Matthias WeidenhöferZvi Aharoni
Recommendations
- 91
The Playlist
The People vs Fritz Bauer successfully uses the moral importance of its themes and the strength of its performances in order to build a riveting procedural that efficiently covers for its lack of visual pizzazz. - 80
The New York Times
Mr. Kraume captures the glances and motions that lay bare a character’s thoughts. He’s fond of the gruff and curmudgeonly Bauer, yet sentimentality is scarce while the double-crossings are surprising and the dry humor is welcome. - 75
RogerEbert.com
Kraume’s mounting of this tale, while capable enough, is also rather staid and conventional. - 70
Screen Daily
A solid, persuasively-acted account of the real-life mission to bring a Nazi war criminal to justice. - 70
Los Angeles Times
Energizing the entire film, in fact powering us past its more conventional aspects, is the compelling performance of veteran German actor Burghart Klaussner, who captures Bauer’s firebrand intensity exactly. - 60
CineVue
The pacing is methodical but breakthroughs in the case and anxious moments where all is feared lost generate real tension. - 60
Variety
Though relatively conservative in its approach, Lars Kraume’s teleplay-style treatment of a still-touchy subject has the nerve to name names. - 50
Village Voice
By focusing on his subject's unwavering moral certainty, Kraume denies his ethical complexity and diminishes the difficulties of his challenging stance to educate the society that wanted him dead.
