The new film that Russell Crowe has waited more than 10 years to make is finally appearing in cinemas in Romania: “There were many moments when he could have given up”
Returning to the lead role of a major motion picture after a period of career decline, Russell Crowe plays the most famous Nazi leader on trial after the end of World War II in “Nuremberg.” The other leading role is reserved for another Oscar-winning actor. The feature film can be seen in cinemas in Romania from December 12, when it has its general premiere.
Unlike previous films about the high-stakes trial in the German city of Nuremberg, director James Vanderbilt's new feature is not a courtroom drama, but rather a psychological thriller based on the 2013 non-fiction book by American journalist and writer Jack El-Hai, The Nazi and the psychiatristexplains Deutsche Welle.
The movie Nurembergfor which the distributors in Romania chose to keep the English name of the German city, revolves around the interviews of Hermann Göring (played by Russell Crowe) – the commander-in-chief of the Luftwaffe and the second most powerful man in Nazi Germany – by the US Army psychiatrist, Lt. Col. Douglas Kelley. It must determine whether the Nazi leader is mentally fit to stand trial.
Kelley is young, ambitious and fascinated by the nature of evil. “What if we could dissect evil?” he asks at the beginning. “What makes Germans different from us?”. The character might sound familiar to those who saw the two-part docudrama of the same name that came out in 2000, starring Alec Baldwin, Brian Cox and Christopher Plummer and Matt Craven, among others.
But Matt Craven played Gustave Gilbert in that production, a better-known American psychologist who talked to those accused in the trial.
Kelly's role is played in the new Nuremberg by American actor Rami Malek, who won the 2019 Academy Award for playing Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody.
A film about a “charming” criminal
In his own book, 22 cells in NurembergKelley concluded that the Nazis on trial, including Göring, were ordinary people—ambitious and cruel perhaps, narcissistic but not psychopathic—and warned that the potential for Nazi-level evil was not unique to Germans, but present in every society, including America.
In fact, director Vanderbilt said in an interview with The Guardian that this was one of the things that struck him the most while reading the book on which his feature film was based.
“One of the fascinating things about Göring was that he was funny, sociable, charming,” the filmmaker said. “He loved his wife and his children, which to me makes him even scarier. You know, he wasn't Darth Vader. But he craved power and was at peace with the suffering of others as long as he could maintain that power,” he added.
Apart from Crowe and Malek Rami, the American director has gathered other acclaimed actors such as Michael Shannon, Richard E. Grant, John Slattery and Leo Woodall for his new feature film
Russell Crowe Waited Over 10 Years to Star in 'Nuremberg'
Vanderbilt worked for 13 years to raise the necessary funds to make this independent film, and said he found a devoted supporter early on in Crowe, who stuck with the project despite funding difficulties.
“There were a lot of times when Russell could have given up; he could have said, 'Guys, I don't think this (the movie) is going to happen.' But he stuck with us,” Vanderbilt told USA Today on the red carpet at the film's US premiere, where it was released on November 7.
Crowe said in turn that the Nazi murderer was a fascinating character to play and that the different stages of the Nazi leader's life and ambitions, culminating in the Nuremberg trials, were interesting.
“You get to the end of the war, it's decided that there will be a trial. And Hermann, he still thinks he can get away with his words,” the veteran actor said in an interview with Reuters.
Crowe, back in the running for the Oscar?
“As Reich Marshal Göring, Crowe is at once imposing and terrifying, mysteriously funny and warm — a skilled social manipulator who draws Kelley, played by Malek, into his web of lies,” noted film critic Jada Yuan in a review of the film published by The New York Times.
“It's a spectacular Oscar-level return for Crowe and, at least to a non-German ear, the actor speaks flawless German in the first 20 minutes of the two-and-a-half-hour film,” she added.
“At the heart of the film Nuremberg there is Russell Crowe's monumental performance as Hermann Göring, Hitler's right-hand man. The Oscar-winning actor hasn't given such an imposing performance since Cinderella Man of Ron Howard,” also wrote film critic Clayton Davis of Variety magazine.
Crowe, now 61, won his first and so far only Academy Award in 2001 for his performance in the hit film Gladiator.
Not all reviews for his new film have been glowing, however, with some critics deeming the production shallow in relation to the subject matter at hand. “Driven by Russell Crowe's authoritative performance, Nuremberg is a finely crafted historical drama, but its weighted pacing and emotional restraint prevent it from fully capturing the complexity of the subject matter,” notes the specialist website Rotten Tomatoes in the description that includes the reviews published so far for the feature film.
The American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will announce the nominations for the next Academy Awards on January 22 next year, with the prestigious statuettes to be awarded on March 15, 2026.
